Department for Transport

British Transport Police: Scotland

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to bring forward the legislative proposals to facilitate the transfer of British Transport Police (a) staff, (b) administrative functions and (c) property and other assets to Police Scotland.

Joseph Johnson: Building on the provisions of the Scotland Act 2016, we intend to lay Orders before Parliament in the Autumn, which will provide for the transfer of relevant BTP officers and staff, and the transfer of relevant assets.

British Transport Police

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the current cost to the taxpayer is from his Department’s (a) administrative, (b) chairing and (c) other responsibilities for the British Transport Police Integration Joint Programme Board.

Joseph Johnson: Work to deliver the devolution of the functions of the British Transport Police in Scotland is being carried out alongside other Departmental activities associated with the Sponsorship of the British Transport Police Authority. The estimated cost, based on the salaries of officials engaged in this work in the current Financial Year is approximately £150,000. It is not possible to further disaggregate the costs of this work.

British Transport Police: Scotland

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will provide estimates of the final cost to the (a) taxpayer and (b) British Transport Police Authority of the proposed transfer of (i) staff, (ii) administrative functions' (iii) property and (iv) other assets to Police Scotland.

Joseph Johnson: There are no direct costs to the taxpayer beyond those referred to in response to UIN 121540. The costs are being borne by the British Transport Police Authority which is wholly funded by the railway operators. The current estimated cost of the transfer to the Authority, which includes the costs of the BTP, is £1.17m.

London-Brighton Railway Line

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the temporary closures of the  Brighton Main Line planned for October 2018 and February 2019 as part of Network Rail's improvement project on that line, whether he has made an estimate of the cost of providing refunds to season ticket holders and free travel to those travelling with other tickets during those planned closures; if he will hold discussions with (a) Network Rail, (b) Govia Thameslink Railway and (c) passenger groups on providing funding for such reductions and refunds; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: Network Rail’s announcement of the temporary closures begins a comprehensive programme of communications, which is giving passengers sufficient notice to be able to amend their travel plans. GTR will be working with Network Rail to develop plans to mitigate the impact of these important works on passengers. Passengers will be able to travel during these works although journeys may take longer.

Railways: North of England

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department received the options paper on the development of potential infrastructure options for the Transpennine route upgrade.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what options were assessed in the options paper for the development of potential infrastructure options for the Transpennine route upgrade.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what options were recommended in the options paper for the development of potential infrastructure for the Transpennine route upgrade.

Joseph Johnson: Holding answer received on 15 January 2018



The Department received a report from Network Rail outlining a series of options for upgrading the Transpennine Route in December. The Department is committed to taking this programme forward to the next development stage and is working together with local stakeholders on this. A range of options were assessed by Network Rail in the development of their report to deliver increased line speeds and capacity. The report does not make any recommendations; rather it provides a series of potential interventions that deliver a range of outputs.

Railways: South West

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve the reliability and punctuality of train services in the South West.

Joseph Johnson: The Government will continue the current record level of funding, with around £48 billion to be spent on the network in the period from 2019 to 2024, which will support more maintenance and a huge uplift in renewals to increase reliability and punctuality for passengers. We are also delivering the biggest rail modernisation programme for over a century, and the Department, working alongside Network Rail and other industry partners, are committed to investing and enhancing the railway so that we have a modern, reliable and punctual railway fit for the future. In relation to services in the Great Western franchise area specifically, new Intercity Express Trains are already replacing older High Speed Trains and 2 January saw the introduction of electric trains to Didcot, which will enable additional diesel trains to move to the West and South West of England.

Railways: South West

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to improve the train service between both Cheltenham and Gloucester and London; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: In 2019 an improved level of service will be introduced onto the London to Gloucester and Cheltenham route. The current two-hourly service of through trains with a shuttle from Swindon every other hour will be replaced by a through service to London every hour operated by the new Intercity Express Trains currently being introduced onto the Great Western network. Before this timetable change, the phased introduction of Intercity Express Trains and withdrawal of the older High Speed Trains should see the first of these new trains introduced on the London to Cheltenham via Gloucester route this summer. The Department is currently consulting on priorities for the Great Western franchise after the current franchise expires in 2020 and will carefully consider the responses to that consultation.

Crossrail

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on proposals to extend Crossrail from Reading to Basingstoke.

Joseph Johnson: There are no plans to extend the Crossrail route to Basingstoke. Any proposal to the extension of the Crossrail route would need to be technically feasible, offer good value for money and depend on the identification of funding.

Railways: Weather

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of train cancellations and delays caused by predictable winter weather; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: The Department requires Train Operating Companies (TOCs) to put in place measures to avoid, where possible, the potential impact of disruption caused by a number of factors, including the weather. As such comprehensive winter checklists are in place between Network Rail and TOCs to mitigate the impacts of winter weather on punctuality and reliability. These include, but are not limited to: the use of snow and ice treatment trains; ice prevention on station platforms; and modifications to train fleets to reduce the chance of faults caused by snow.

Virgin Trains East Coast

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Virgin Trains East Coast on the franchise commitment to run direct trains every two hours to London from Bradford, Middlesbrough and Lincoln from 2020; and if that commitment will still hold in the light of the early ending of the franchise agreement.

Joseph Johnson: We are in discussions with Stagecoach to ensure the needs of passengers and taxpayers will be met in the short term whilst laying the foundations to bring forward the reforms in full under a long-term competitively procured contract. We expect to provide additional services to Lincoln and Bradford from May 2019. It remains our intention to deliver additional services to Middlesbrough when capacity is available to do so. Virgin Trains East Coast has contingent rights to run services from London to Middlesbrough from May 2020 and firm rights from May 2021. From 2020, we will introduce the East Coast Partnership - a regional partnership between the public and private sector, operated by a single management, under a single brand and under a single leader.

Railways: Christmas

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which railway franchise holders are contractually obliged to put forward proposals to provide a Boxing Day train service; and when such proposals should be made.

Joseph Johnson: Of the published franchise agreements, two franchises are currently required to provide proposals for Boxing Day services. Within 12 months of the start of their franchises, First Transpennine Express and Arriva Rail North are contractually obliged to prepare and submit a report to the Secretary of State which sets out proposals for operating Boxing Day services. Both Arriva Rail North and First Transpennine Express have submitted the required reports to Rail North, who work in conjunction with the Secretary of State within the terms of the Rail North Partnership Agreement, to assess such proposals for Boxing Day services.

Railways: Penalty Fares

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to change the regulations on the appeals process against the imposition of penalty fares by rail operators.

Joseph Johnson: The Government published its response on the rail fares penalty appeal process consultation in December 2016. The response set out plans to bring forward a new statutory instrument, strengthening passenger protections, and introducing provisions requiring train operators that operate a penalty fares scheme to introduce an independent third stage appeal with these changes to be in effect from April 2018. The industry has already taken steps towards this objective and the recruitment process, run by Transport Focus, for the independent panel commenced on 8 January 2018.

Automatic Number Plate Recognition: Rural Areas

Martin Whitfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the use of ANPR equipment to monitor vehicle tax in rural areas.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) uses its own ANPR fleet to identify non-compliant vehicles in locations throughout the United Kingdom. The DVLA’s wheelclamping contractor also provides ANPR services which provide geographic coverage across every district in the UK. ANPR equipment is just one of a range of measures the DVLA utilise to tackle vehicle excise duty evasion.

West Coast Partnership Rail Franchise

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the invitation to tender for the West Coast Franchise will be issued; for what reasons that invitation for tender was not issued in November 2017; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: The West Coast Partnership (WCP) franchise is a new type of franchise securing a partner for the DfT and HS2 Ltd to support this key infrastructure project for the UK. As a result, it includes a number of complex additional elements which require careful consideration. To ensure the right proposition is developed to deliver the benefits of this project for passengers, a draft ITT was shared for consultation with shortlisted bidders in November 2017 on a commercially confidential basis. We expect to publish the final ITT early this year.

East Coast Rail Franchise

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport,  what estimate he has made of the annual contribution to the public purse from franchise holders on the east coast mainline in each of the last 20 years.

Joseph Johnson: Payments received from operators of the east coast mainline are published by ORR and can be found on their website.

Railways: Fares

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the rail fare rises implemented in January 2018 on rail (a) patronage and (b) revenues.

Joseph Johnson: The Department makes long-term projections of rail demand and revenues, for planning and budgeting purposes, and to assess the case for enhancement schemes. These take into account a range of factors.

Railways: Marketing

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on passengers living outside of East Anglia of the advertising the new 26-30 railcard pilot for East Anglian residents on train booking websites while that scheme is in the trial period.

Joseph Johnson: The Department expects rail operators to ensure that customers have the information they need to make an informed choice about their ticket. The industry is trialling a 26-30 Railcard, making this available on an initial basis for passengers living in the East Anglia area, with the ambition to deliver the card across all franchises following evaluation of this trial. The Rail Delivery Group has agreed to consider how to make the limited availability of this product, at this point in time, clearer at the point of purchase.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Department for Communities and Local Government: Travel

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each of the last four years.

Jake Berry: The table below sets out the expenditure for my Department on taxis, first class train tickets and business class air travel.The information for taxis is as shown on the Department's Finance System and for train and air as recorded on the Redfern Travel Management Information Reports.My Department started to use its current travel provider, Redfern, in July 2009 and, “although the format of the travel report for 2009–10 is for the partial year July 2009–March 2010 due to the previous travel contract being discontinued, this has been included for reference”. As can be seen, if the partial year of 2009–10 is compared to the full year of 2016–17, taxi fare expenditure has fallen by 51 per cent, first class train ticket expenditure has fallen by 97 per cent, and business class air travel has fallen by 82 per cent since the start of the decade, an overall fall of around 87 per cent or £230,000.   Expenditure to the nearest £thousandType and Mode of travelJuly 2009 – March 20102013-142014-152015-162016-17Taxis Fares4526272722First class train tickets18566146Business class air travel34112696

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Patents: Fees and Charges

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to The Patents and Patents (Fees) (Amendment) Rules 2017, what assessment has made of the potential effect of the increase in fees on the number of patent applications.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Holding answer received on 10 January 2018



The fee changes are being made after a full public consultation and Impact Assessment (www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposed-changes-to-statutory-patents-fees). Past experience has shown that previous fee increases have resulted in small or no changes in the number of patent applications. The new fees remain modest but are designed to encourage businesses and, in particular, individuals to consider carefully – before they apply – whether patent protection will be of benefit to them. We therefore expect to see a decrease in the number of speculative applications, and applications with little chance of successfully being granted a patent. The Impact Assessment modelled a 10% decrease in the number of applications on this basis, but no decrease is expected in the number of valid patents being granted to innovators. This will ensure that valuable patent examiner resources can be more focussed on patent applications with a prospect of success, to the benefit of innovative businesses.

Employment: Disadvantaged

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she is taking to ensure that people who live in socially deprived areas are aware of their employment rights.

Andrew Griffiths: The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) provides free and impartial information and advice to employers and employees on all aspects of workplace relations and employment law. Where Acas identifies a potential complaint in relation to National Minimum Wage (NMW), agency workers, working time, gangmasters and agricultural wages rights, it will forward calls to the relevant enforcement body. Additionally, the Government does work to support and promote use of this service, and increase workers’ awareness of their rights. For example, the Government is developing a targeted communications campaign to ensure workers are aware of their rights to the NMW. This will follow the £1.75 million campaign we ran over Spring 2017 to achieve the same ends. To increase accessibility, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate have also worked with the Romanian and Bulgarian Embassies to produce a leaflet in these respective languages, detailing what the minimum standards workers should expect from employment businesses and agencies are. The same leaflet is also available in English and provides contact numbers for agency workers to raise concerns or complaints. HMRC also carry out risk based enforcement using risk modelling and intelligence that they receive to enforce the NMW on behalf of workers who may not be aware of their rights, and are therefore less likely to complain.

EURATOM

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts at Euratom on (a) the future ownership of Euratom’ s inspectors and equipment in the UK, (b) future arrangements for special fissile materials and (c) future arrangements for used fuel and radioactive waste.

Richard Harrington: The Department has held a number of rounds of discussions with the European Commission on legal issues related to nuclear material and safeguards as part of the first phase of EU Exit negotiations. These issues have included the future ownership of Euratom safeguards equipment, the ownership of special fissile materials, and the legal responsibility for spent fuel and radioactive waste. Progress in these discussions was set out in the ‘Joint Report On Progress During Phase 1 Of Negotiations Under Article 50 TEU On The UK’s Orderly Withdrawal From The EU’, published on 8 December 2017: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/665869/Joint_report_on_progress_during_phase_1_of_negotiations_under_Article_50_TEU_on_the_United_Kingdom_s_orderly_withdrawal_from_the_European_Union.pdf. The next phase of negotiations is expected to commence shortly.

Biofuels: Subsidies

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Clean Growth Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of subsidising biomass conversion.

Richard Harrington: Biomass conversions play an important transitional role in decarbonising the grid and helping to meet carbon targets. 2.98 GW of capacity is currently supported under the Renewables Obligation or has been awarded a contract under the Contracts for Difference scheme.

Energy: Storage

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support the development of the battery storage industry.

Richard Harrington: Our Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan set out a range of measures that are being taken to support the development of storage in our energy system by removing policy and regulatory barriers, opening markets and committing £70 million of innovation funding for smart systems, including storage. This innovation funding is on top of the £246 million Faraday Battery Challenge to help the UK become a world leader in the research, development and manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles.

Energy

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of supporting the creation of energy markets similar to Nord Pool.

Richard Harrington: The Department currently has no plans to make such an assessment.The CMA (Competition and Markets Authority), as part of its investigation into the energy market, found that the GB wholesale markets were broadly functioning effectively.

Energy: Storage

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to define energy storage.

Richard Harrington: In our Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan, we committed to define electricity storage in primary legislation as a distinct subset of generation when parliamentary time allows. This is an important commitment and one that we will honour.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Israel: Detainees

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to make representations to the Government of Israel on the military detention of human rights defenders, Ahed Tamimi, and her mother, Nariman Tamimi.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office raised Ahed Tamimi’s case with the Israeli Ambassador to London on 8 January. On 2 January, officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised this case with the Israeli authorities, noting the British Government's long-standing concerns about the treatment of Palestinian minors in Israeli military detention. We are also aware of the arrest of Nariman Tamimi on charges of inciting violence, and will seek further details from the appropriate Israeli authorities.

Saudi Arabia: Foreign Relations

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Government of Saudi Arabia on steps to reduce tensions with Yemen and Iran.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign Secretary spoke to the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, on 19 December 2017 to discuss bilateral and regional issues. This included the ongoing conflict in Yemen, and the Foreign Secretary stressed the importance of addressing the humanitarian crisis and refocusing the political track. He also strongly condemned the Houthi missile attack on Riyadh on 19 December 2017. The UK remains concerned at reports that Iran has supplied weapons to the Houthis, and supports the UN's investigation into these claims.

Egypt: Equality

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Egyptian Government on equality for and the rights of women.

Alistair Burt: We regularly raise the importance of human rights, including for women, with the Egyptian Government at all levels. Our Special Envoy for Gender Equality visited Egypt in September 2017 and met Parliamentarians, civil society representatives and business leaders. Our Ambassador and other officials regularly meet with the Egyptian Government’s National Council for Women. We have deployed a Regional Gender Adviser to our Embassy in Cairo, who co-chairs a Gender and Development working group. This is attended by international partners and the Egyptian Government is represented by the National Council for Women.

China: Environment Protection

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Chinese Government on steps to reduce pollution and increase green growth.

Mark Field: I have had no recent discussions with the Chinese Government on the issue of reducing pollution. However my officials, our Embassy in Beijing and our other posts in China continue to engage on this issue with their Chinese counterparts. The Foreign Secretary's Climate Envoy, Nick Bridge, visited China in September 2017.

Yazidis

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Iraqi government on measures to assist Yazidi refugees to return to their homes.

Alistair Burt: Through our Embassy in Baghdad and Consulate-General in Erbil we consistently urge the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government to ensure the safe, voluntary and unhindered return of all Internally Displaced Persons, including Yazidis, supported by the prospect of genuine community reconciliation. I raised this issue with the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office during my visit to Iraq in September 2017 and the Prime Minister did so with Prime Minister Abadi during her visit to Iraq on 29 November 2017. Ensuring that all Iraqis are able to return to their homes safely will be critical to post-conflict stabilisation efforts.

Brunei: Religious Freedom

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the level of religious freedom in Brunei; and what steps the Government is taking to promote and protect the right to freedom of religion or belief in that country.

Mark Field: ​Brunei's constitution names the Shafi school of Sunni Islam as the country's official religion and states that all religions may be practiced in peace and harmony. Other forms of Islamic observance are not permitted. In 2013 Brunei announced a sharia penal code to operate alongside the common law system. To date, this has not had a significant practical impact on the level of religious freedom in Brunei. Our High Commissioner in Bandar Seri Begawan regularly discusses the direction of religious freedom in Brunei with its government, most recently in October 2017.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Ferries: Companies

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to Answer of 8 January 2018 to Question 118968, where in those returns the names of the attendees at the UK Ferry Companies Roundtable attended by Lord Bridges of Headley are located.

Mr Steve Baker: The names of all attendees at this meeting are not held centrally.

British Irish Chamber of Commerce

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2018 to Question 119507, if he will publish the representations he received from the British-Irish Chamber of Commerce; and what assessment he has made of those representations.

Mr Robin Walker: We value the input of all organisations with an interest in our future relationship with the EU. We do not routinely disclose the content of meetings between this department and external bodies. Details of Ministerial meetings are published in the Department’s Quarterly Transparency Returns, which are publicly available on GOV.UK.

Brexit

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2018 to Question 120198, how many of the 720 staff referred to in that answer have expertise in competition policy.

Mr Robin Walker: The information you have requested is not held centrally therefore we are not in a position to provide a breakdown of expertise held by particular groups of staff.The Department for Exiting the European Union is drawing together expertise from a wide range of departments where there is specific relevant knowledge. The Department has sourced a large proportion of experienced staff from across Whitehall on a loan basis and a number of secondees from the private sector and the wider public sector, including in the field of competition law and policy and from the Competition and Markets Authority. All departments are equipping themselves with the resources they need to get the best deal for the UK.

Department of Health and Social Care

Alcoholic Drinks: Labelling

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the likely effects of introducing warnings on alcoholic products at the point of sale on a link between alcohol and cancer and other health matters.

Steve Brine: Public Health England’s evidence review on the public health burden of alcohol found that alcohol health warning labels on alcoholic products can raise awareness of the messages they contain. However, the evidence review did not identify any studies which considered the specific impact of warnings at the point of sale on the link between alcohol and cancer and other health harms. The review is available at the following link:www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-public-health-burden-of-alcohol-evidence-review

Clinical Trials

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will consider the merits of introducing a national audit system for clinical trials; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: All clinical trials of investigational medicinal products in the European Union are registered and information on the trial and a summary of results is made public in the EU clinical trials register, except for adult phase 1 trials which are considered commercially confidential. Good clinical practice (GCP) is a set of internationally-recognised ethical and scientific quality requirements that must be followed when designing, conducting, recording and reporting clinical trials that involve people. To ensure compliance with GCP, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency carries out inspections in the United Kingdom of organisations that are involved in clinical trials. The Government’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) which is the country’s largest public funder of health research and trials, has implemented a number of initiatives on publication of research results. The NIHR is the world’s first health research funder to publish comprehensive accounts of its commissioned research within its own publicly and permanently available journal series. The NIHR Journals Library comprises a suite of five open access peer-reviewed journals reporting results from a range of health research areas. The reports provide a full account of the research project, including methods and a full description of the results, and complement shorter articles submitted for publication in other peer-review journals, which the NIHR actively encourages researchers to do as part of their dissemination strategy. In addition – contracts for NIHR funding include requirements on publication of the results from NIHR funded and supported research.

Headaches

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of people who have been diagnosed with or received treatment for cluster headaches in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: This information is not collected.

Tamoxifen

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what advice the NHS provides on the use of Tamoxifen for menopausal women.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for providing guidance on the prevention and treatment of ill health and the promotion of good health and social care for the National Health Service. NICE has provided recommendations on the use of tamoxifen in its clinical guideline on ‘Early and locally advanced breast cancer: diagnosis and treatment’ which is currently being updated. The guideline can be found at:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg80/chapter/1-Guidance#endocrine-therapyThe Breast Cancer Clinical Expert Group also issued guidance to Cancer Alliances for Provision of Breast Cancer Services, in August 2017. This guidance includes best practice for the provision of tamoxifen, and can be found at:http://www.yhscn.nhs.uk/media/PDFs/cancer/National%20Optimal%20Pways%202017/Clinical%20Advice%20for%20the%20Provision%20of%20Breast%20Cancer%20Services%20Aug%202017.pdf

Depressive Illnesses

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were diagnosed with bipolar disorder in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: The information requested is not collected.

Pregnancy: Streptococcus

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure the provision of routine Strep B testing for all pregnant women in the UK; and if he will make representations to the National Screening Committee to assess the adequacy of its guidelines on screening.

Stephen Barclay: Following the United Kingdom National Screening Committee’s (UK NSC’s) meeting in February 2017, the Department accepted the UK NSC’s recommendation that a population-based screening programme for Group B Streptococcus (GBS) carriage should not be offered. This is because there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the benefits to be gained from screening would outweigh the harms. Guidance on early onset neonatal GBS and other neonatal disease is provided by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is available at:https://www.rcog.org.uk/en/guidelines-research-services/guidelines/gtg36/The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is available at:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg149/chapter/4-research-recommendations

Diabetes: Children

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what priority has been accorded to the provision of diabetic pumps for children; and what discussions his Department has had with each of the devolved administrations on that provision.

Steve Brine: Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning diabetes services to meet the requirements of their population. In doing so, CCGs need to ensure that the services they provide are fit for purpose, reflect the needs of the local population and are based on the available evidence and take into account national guidelines. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for producing guidelines for best practice of treatment and care. Treatments such as Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion (CSII) or ‘insulin pump' therapy may be brought into routine use in the National Health Service after their efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness have been appropriately demonstrated. Health is a devolved matter under the devolution settlements and thus it would be a matter for the devolved administrations to determine their use of diabetic pumps. Devolved administrations would be aware of guidance published by NICE on the use of CSII for children, and are able to follow these if they choose to do so.

Mental Health Services

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to address the greater prevalence of mental health issues in Northern Ireland and to ensure parity of access to and provision of mental heath services across the UK.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Health is a devolved matter in the United Kingdom. For Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Executive is responsible for the organisation and delivery of health and social care services and the protection and promotion of health.

Radiotherapy: Rural Areas

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the accessibility of radiotherapy in rural areas as a result of NHS England's plan to modernise radiotherapy services.

Steve Brine: NHS England is currently engaged in a public consultation to establish 11 radiotherapy networks across England. The aim of their proposals is to encourage radiotherapy providers to work together in networks and across organisational boundaries to concentrate expertise and improve pathways for patients requiring radical radiotherapy for the less common and rarer cancers. This will help to increase access to more innovative radiotherapy treatments, increase clinical trial recruitment and optimise utilisation of radiotherapy equipment, securing greater value for money. Once established, radiotherapy networks will be required to review service provision on a regular basis, explore the differential access rates across the geography and take account of specific issues relating to rural communities. They will also be required to consider how to address any shortcomings, including; outreach out-patient oncology clinics, preferential access to clinic appointments and treatments to allow for limited public transport, reviewing opportunities for better hospital transport and the use of telephone consultations when appropriate. The consultation period has been extended until 24 January 2018 and views can be fed into the online survey: https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/radiotherapy-service-specification-consultation/

Eating Disorders: Health Services

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report of the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman, Ignoring the alarms: how NHS eating disorder services are failing patients, HC 634, what steps he is taking to address the gaps in provision of eating disorders specialists.

Jackie Doyle-Price: For children and young people aged between eight and 18 years, the Government is investing £150 million to expand eating disorder services and staff – with 70 new or enhanced services already in place. The Government’s aim is for the National Health Service to meet the access and waiting time standard for children and young people with an eating disorder by 2020/21 so that 95% of children with an eating disorder will receive treatment within one week for urgent cases and within four weeks for routine cases. NHS England has published a Commissioning Guide that sets out its recommended staffing and training requirements for these services. This is available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/cyp-eating-disorders-access-waiting-time-standard-comm-guid.pdf We are on track to meet the eating disorders waiting time target. 68.7% of children and young people are currently being seen within one week and 78.9% within four weeks (against target of 95% for both by 2020/21). For adults, NHS England is conducting a baseline audit to measure existing levels of investment, capacity and activity across inpatient and community services for adults with eating disorders. NHS England will develop evidence based treatment pathways across mental health services over the next five years in line with the recommendations of the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health. NHS England is working with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health to ensure that each pathway is fully informed by the available evidence and the views of experts by experience.

Department of Health and Social Care: Reorganisation

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of changing his Department's name.

Stephen Barclay: The costs of changing the name ‘Department of Health’ to ‘Department of Health and Social Care’ will be kept to an absolute minimum. The current estimate for costs associated to the name change will be no more than £1,000. Stationery, such as business cards and headed paper, will only be changed when stock is used up. Signage in the Department’s London headquarters is digital only. Physical signage in the Leeds headquarters will only be changed later in 2018, as part of a planned refurbishment of the building. Amends to the website and intranet have not incurred additional costs.

NHS: Drugs

Sammy  Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on UK patients' access to new medicines.

Steve Brine: Ensuring continued patient access to new medicines is a key element of the United Kingdom’s commitment to continuing a close working relationship with our European partners. While the detail of any future arrangements will be subject to broader negotiations on the UK’s exit from the European Union, the UK remains clear that continued cooperation is in the best interest of both UK and EU patients and public health and safety.

NHS: Fees and Charges

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of patients who have paid for non-emergency treatment who are registered as having no fixed abode.

Jackie Doyle-Price: It is not possible to identify patients who have paid for non-emergency treatment and who are registered as having no fixed abode within Hospital Episode Statistics. This Government is concerned about the very poor health among people who experience homelessness and so we are taking action to address the root causes of homelessness. We are implementing an ambitious legislative reform, the Homelessness Reduction Act, which means more people will get the help they need earlier to prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place. We are committed to halving rough sleeping by 2020 and are investing £550 million to address the issue.

Obesity: Surgery

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children under 18 years old have had gastric band operations in each of the last 5 years.

Steve Brine: NHS Digital has provided a count of finished admission episodes1 (FAE) where the patient was aged 17 or under and a primary diagnosis2 of obesity was recorded alongside a main or secondary operative procedure3 of bariatric surgery for the years 2012-13 to 2016-174. This information is provided in the table below.Activity in English National Health Service Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sectorProcedure2012-132013-142014-152015-162016-17Gastric Bypass544912Gastric Band733--Gastric Bubble/Balloon310312Stomach Staples1--14Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS DigitalNotes:1A FAE is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period. 2The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 diagnosis fields in the HES data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. 3The number of episodes where the procedure (or intervention) was recorded in any of the 24 procedure fields in a HES record. A record is only included once in each count, even if the procedure is recorded in more than one procedure field of the record. It should be noted that that more procedures are carried out than episodes with a main or secondary procedure. For example, patients undergoing a ‘cataract operation’ would tend to have at least two procedures – removal of the faulty lens and the fitting of a new one – counted in a single episode. 4HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, apparent reductions in activity may be due to a number of procedures which may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and so no longer include in admitted patient HES data. Conversely, apparent increases in activity may be due to improved recording of diagnosis or procedure information. It should be noted that HES include activity ending in the year in question and run from April to March, e.g. 2012-13 includes activity ending between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.

Community Care

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many households have signed up to the Shared Lives initiative in (a) England and (b) North Cornwall constituency.

Caroline Dinenage: The information requested is not held centrally.

Cancer: Oxfordshire

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure compliance with the national cancer waiting time standard in Oxfordshire; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: Oxford University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is currently meeting seven out of the eight national cancer waiting times standards. Oxford Clinical Commissioning Group is working with Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to improve waiting times performance and ensure national standards are met, including the 62-day cancer standard. Achieving the unmet 62-day cancer standard is a key objective in the Government’s Mandate to NHS England for 2017-18 and Next Steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View.

Eyesight: Testing

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the NHS sight test fee on the accessibility of sight tests for people with severe learning disabilities.

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reasons people who (a) have a learning disability and (b) are homeless are not specified as eligible for NHS sight tests under the Primary Ophthalmic Services Regulations 2008.

Steve Brine: For those entitled to a National Health Service sight test, the service is free at the point of need. There are no costs to patients to form a barrier to accessibility. All children under the age of 16, those under the age of 19 in full time education, as well as all adults aged 60 or over are entitled to an NHS sight test. Those on a low income and defined categories of people at particular risk of developing eye disease are also entitled to NHS sight tests. The eligibility criteria are long standing and target help on those most at risk of eye disease or least able to pay for a private sight test. This will include most people with severe learning disabilities or those who are homeless. There is recognition however that there are particular practical challenges for these groups in accessing services. NHS England is responsible for commissioning NHS sight tests. NHS England advises it is currently looking at the accessibility issues those with learning disabilities may face and is considering similar work in the future on the impact of homelessness on accessibility.

Prescription Drugs

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) hospital admissions and (b) deaths related to (i) benzodiazepines, (ii) z drugs and (ii) antidepressants there were in the last year.

Steve Brine: In 2016-17, the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) database showed the number of finished admission episodes with a primary or secondary diagnosis of benzodiazepines and antidepressants as follows:Benzodiazepines7,313Z drugs (Zopiclone / Zolpidem)not availableAntidepressants16,108 Similar information on the number of admissions for Z drugs cannot be extracted from the HES database. The classification of admissions includes, but is not limited to, those relating to the use of Z drugs and therefore these instances cannot be isolated. In 2016, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published the following information for drug related deaths:Benzodiazepines406Z drugs94Antidepressants460 This information was published by the ONS on 2 August 2017 and is available online at:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/deathsrelatedtodrugpoisoningenglandandwalesreferencetable

Cancer: Medical Treatments

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to maintain the quality of service of specialist diagnostic workforces in cancer treatment after the UK leaves the EU.

Steve Brine: We value the enormous contribution of all the staff working in health and social care from across the European Union and the rest of the world. We are committed to ensuring that the National Health Service and social care have the nurses, midwives, doctors, carers and other health professionals that they need to deliver the high quality service on which patients rely following the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU. The Prime Minister has been very clear that EU citizens living lawfully in the UK will be allowed to stay. The Department has submitted evidence to the Migration Advisory Committee to ensure the position of staff in health and social care is fully understood and taken into account as part of their evidence gathering into the impact of the UK’s exit from the EU on the UK labour market. Health Education England published the cancer workforce plan in December 2017 which sets out actions as recommended in the Cancer Strategy for England, including for the diagnostic workforce up to 2020/21. The plan also considers future challenges beyond 2020/21. It is the responsibility of the devolved governments in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to ensure they have the specialist workforce to deliver cancer services.

Perinatal Mortality

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to reduce the occurrence of still-births.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Since the Maternity Safety Action Plan was launched in 2016, more than 90% of trusts have appointed a named board-level maternity safety champion; 136 National Health Service trusts have received a share of an £8.1 million maternity safety training fund and, as of June 2017, more than 12,000 additional staff have received training. The maternal and neonatal health safety collaborative was launched on 28 February 2017 and 44 wave 1 trusts have attended intensive training on quality improvement science and are working on implementing local quality improvement projects with regular visits from a dedicated quality improvement manager; and 25 trusts were successful in their bids for a share of the £250,000 maternity safety innovation fund and have been progressing with their projects to drive improvements in safety. The majority of maternity care providers are now implementing all four elements of the Saving Babies’ Lives Care Bundle, which recommends four key elements of evidence-based care and practice: reducing smoking in pregnancy, risk assessment and surveillance for fetal growth restriction, raising awareness of reduced fetal movement and effective fetal monitoring during labour. The Department has also funded the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford to develop a national standardised Perinatal Mortality Review Tool to support local perinatal death reviews. On 28 November 2017, my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State published ‘Safer Maternity Care, The National Maternity Safety Strategy - Progress and Next Steps’, which set out a series of additional measures and made clear his intention to bring forward the national ambition to halve the rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries that occur during or soon after birth from 2030 to 2025. From April 2018, every case of a stillbirth, neonatal death, suspected brain injury or maternal death that is notified to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ (RCOG) ‘Each Baby Counts’ programme, about 1,000 incidents annually, will be investigated independently, with a thorough, learning-focused investigation conducted by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch. The new independent maternity safety investigations will involve families from the outset, and they will have an explicit remit not just to get to the bottom of what happened in an individual instance, but to spread knowledge around the system so that mistakes are not repeated. In addition, the Department has provided funding for the RCOG to launch 'Each Baby Counts Learn and Support' - a programme of work to enable greater collaboration between the Royal Colleges and the NHS via the Maternal and Neonatal Health Safety Collaborative - the aim is to align quality and safety improvement, multi-professional learning and clinical leadership into a consistent and sustainable safety strategy across the system. The Department is also providing new funding to train health practitioners, such as maternity support workers, to deliver evidence-based smoking cessation according to appropriate national standards. Further information about the additional measures in place to achieve the ambition and reduce stillbirths can be found here in the National Maternity Safety Strategy:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/662969/Safer_maternity_care_-_progress_and_next_steps.pdf

Perinatal Mortality

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of potential merits of offering a third trimester scan to pregnant women as a measure to reduce the number of still-births.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The UK National Screening Committee is considering evidence to use screening in an effort to reduce stillbirth. A review document will be publicly consulted on later in the year. Information and how to participate in the consultation will be made available at: https://legacyscreening.phe.org.uk/screening-recommendations.php

Maternity Services

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the six week postnatal GP appointment for new mothers is a full check on the mother's physical and mental health in addition to a separate appointment on the health of the newborn child.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Clinical recommendations relating to postnatal checks for mothers and newborn babies are outlined within the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance titled ‘Postnatal care up to 8 weeks after birth’. Section 1.2.65 states that ‘At the end of the postnatal period, the coordinating healthcare professional should ensure that the woman’s physical, emotional and social wellbeing is reviewed. Screening and medical history should also be taken into account’. Sections 1.4.11-13 state that at six to eight weeks an examination on the health of a newborn child should be made. Further detail of this guidance can be found at:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg37NHS England expects commissioners and providers of maternity care to pay due regard to the NICE guidelines. Implementation of this guidance is the responsibility of local National Health Service commissioners and providers.

NHS: Migrant Workers

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many non-UK EU nationals were employed by the NHS in cardiology in each of the last three years.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many non-UK EU nationals were employed by the NHS in dermatology in each of the last three years.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many non-UK EU nationals were employed by the NHS in neurology in each of the last three years.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many non-UK EU nationals were employed by the NHS in gynaecology in each of the last three years.

Stephen Barclay: NHS Digital publishes workforce statistics and the following table shows the numbers of non-United Kingdom European Union nationals employed by the National Health Service in the following areas; Cardiology, Dermatology, Neurology and Obstetrics and Gynaecology at September 2015 – September 2017. NHS Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS): Specified Staff as at 30 September each specified year (Headcount). Group/Area (Headcount)September-2015September-2016September-2017Cardiology1,4081,5951,664Dermatology217229244Neurology467514523Obstetrics and Gynaecology602678722

Care Homes: Closures

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of residential and care home closures on the ability of local authorities to fulfil their statutory obligations to provide care.

Caroline Dinenage: High quality care is not just about care home beds. Of those aged 65 and over who need local authority support, 62% are cared for in their own home. Since 2010 there has been a growth in home care agencies of more than 3,140. The total number of beds in care homes has remained broadly static since 2010. We have given local authorities in England an extra £2 billion over the next three years to maintain access for our growing aging population and allow councils to sustain a diverse care market including care home places. In addition the Government has announced we will consult on plans to improve the social care system and to put it on a more secure financial footing.

NHS: Land

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much land he has declared as surplus to NHS needs in (a) West Sussex and (b) the Coast to Capital local enterprise partnership area.

Stephen Barclay: The latest Surplus Land Collection report (2016-17) - available on NHS Digital’s website - shows that National Health Service trusts have declared as surplus 1.53 hectare (ha) of land in West Sussex and 3.41 ha of land in the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) area.Total surplus land area declared in West SussexSurplus land area (ha)South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust0.54Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust0.99Total1.53 Total surplus land area declared in Coast to Capital LEPSurplus land area (ha)Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust1.25South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust0.67Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust0.50Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust0.99Grand Total3.41Source:2016-17 Surplus Land Collection report: https://digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB23972

Department for International Development

Port Health Authorities: Training

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she has met with the Association of Port Health Authorities to seek their support for such the training of such health officers overseas.

Alistair Burt: The Secretary of State has not met with the Association of Port Health Authorities. The UK assists the WHO to implement and monitor the International Health Regulations (2005) that include the standards required for port health authorities internationally. The UK will always consider the most appropriate subject matter experts for interventions overseas that improve global health security.

West Bank: Demolition

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will assess the potential effect of planned demolitions in the West Bank village of Susiya on (a) the welfare and rights of residents and (b) the human and economic development of Palestinian people living in Area C of the occupied West Bank.

Alistair Burt: I discussed the threat of forcible transfer with the Susiya Bedouin community during my visit there in August 2017.The Israeli authorities have stated their plan to imminently demolish around a third of structures in Susiya, including two clinics, which would stand to affect all residents. Demolitions of Palestinian homes and buildings cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians, are harmful to the peace process and, in most circumstances, are contrary to international humanitarian law. A clear, transparent route to construction for Palestinians in Area C is needed to prevent continued demolitions. According to the World Bank, the removal of the Israeli restrictions on Area C, including restrictions on construction, could result in the West Bank economy being 33% larger by 2025 than it would otherwise be. Officials have repeatedly raised our concerns about proposed demolitions in Susiya with Israeli ministers, including in a joint demarche with European partners on 2 November 2017.

Developing Countries: Recycling

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the amount of funding from her Department allocated to plastic recycling projects, including the location of each such project in each year since 2015.

Harriett Baldwin: The Department for International Development and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs fund alongside other countries the $4.43 billion Global Environment Facility sixth replenishment (2014 – 2018), which has a programme to tackle marine plastic pollution and a number of other projects improving waste management more broadly. The Department and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are working jointly on what more can be done to reduce the plastic waste entering the oceans.

Rohingya: Refugees

Ruth Cadbury: What steps her Department is taking to support the safe and voluntary return of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar.

Penny Mordaunt: Rohingya refugees must be allowed to return to their homes in Burma voluntarily, in safety and with dignity. The necessary conditions for returns are not in place yet. We will continue to work with governments in both countries and international partners to put these conditions in place and avoid premature returns.

Overseas Aid: Cost Effectiveness

Mr Nigel Evans: What recent steps she has taken to ensure value for money for overseas projects funded by her Department.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID has recently introduced tough new reforms for its aid spending to deliver value for money, including clamping down on the risk of unethical practices by suppliers and increasing efficiency savings. All projects are measured against a robust monitoring framework to ensure they remain cost effective.

World Humanitarian Summit

Hugh Gaffney: What progress her Department has made on delivering its commitments made at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016.

Penny Mordaunt: DFID is delivering on the ambitious reform agenda agreed at the World Humanitarian Summit, and holding our partners to account for their commitments. From 2018, 30% of the UK’s core funding to humanitarian agencies will be performance-based, dependent on the delivery of vital reforms agreed to at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016, including the ‘Grand Bargain’.

Overseas Aid: Cost Effectiveness

Mr Bob Seely: What steps she is taking to promote value for money in aid.

Harriett Baldwin: In my department every project is rigorously appraised before approval to ensure value for money. All projects are also measured against a robust monitoring framework to ensure they remain cost effective. DFID supports other aid spending departments, who are responsible for ensuring value for money of their aid spend.

South Sudan: Violence

Nic Dakin: What steps her Department is taking to help tackle gender-based violence in South Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: South Sudan experiences horrific gender-based violence. Last year, a DFID-funded programme reached nearly 300,000 people with interventions, including responses for survivors of gender-based violence and longer-term prevention. We have also conducted ground breaking research to improve our understanding of and response to gender-based violence in South Sudan.

Caribbean: Disaster Relief

Sir Henry Bellingham: What steps she is taking to support post-hurricane relief in the Caribbean.

Penny Mordaunt: The UK provided significant support to the countries affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. More than 800 tonnes of aid was delivered, including food and water. The Prime Minister has further reaffirmed the UK’s intention to stand by Overseas Territories and Commonwealth Caribbean partners on the challenging road to recovery.

Nature Conservation: Overseas Aid

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: What recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the use of Official Development Assistance to help communities in developing countries protect endangered species.

Penny Mordaunt: Protecting the environment is a top priority for this Government, as set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan published last week. DFID Ministers have had regular discussions on Illegal Wildlife Trade with Ministers from Defra and the FCO, planning for the UK hosted international Conference in October 2018.

Land Mines: Developing Countries

Kwasi Kwarteng: What steps her Department is taking to support the removal of land mines in developing countries.

Alistair Burt: Landmines are indiscriminate weapons of war that maim and kill innocent children every day. UK support announced in April last year will make safe land equivalent to the size of over 20,000 football pitches and help 800,000 people live their lives free from the threat of mines.

Department for Education

Adoption and Foster Care

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support cross-cultural fostering and adoptive placements.

Nadhim Zahawi: The government is committed to encouraging stable families and individuals from all cultural backgrounds to foster or adopt. Cultural and ethnic background is one of a number of considerations that a local authority must consider when placing a child.The Children Act 1989 and underpinning regulations state that a child can be placed with a carer that does not share their culture, religion, language or ethnicity as long as that placement is appropriate and able to meet the needs of the child. Children should be cared for in a way that recognises and respects their identity and carers should be given the training and support they need to fully support that child.Since 2014, adoption agencies are no longer required to search for an ethnic match between potential adopters and children. The National Fostering Stocktake has explored a range of issues, including the recruitment and retention of foster carers, and making good placement decisions. The department plans to publish its report shortly.

Universities: Finance

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the (a) scope, (b) timetable and (c) membership the review panel for the review of university funding and student financing announced by the Prime Minister in her speech to the Conservative Party Conference in October 2017.

Mr Sam Gyimah: As stated in the Industrial Strategy white paper published on 27 November 2017, the government is committed to conducting a major review of funding across tertiary education to ensure a joined-up system that works for everyone. As current and significant reforms move into implementation, this review will look at how we can ensure that the education system for those aged 18 years and over is:accessible to all;supported by a funding system that provides value for money and works for both students and taxpayers;incentivises choice and competition across the sector; andencourages the development of the skills that we need as a country. The government will set out further details on the review in due course.

Apprentices: Aviation

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the timetable is for the introduction of the  Commercial Airline Pilot Standard apprenticeship to be introduced; what estimate he has made of the number apprenticeships that will be taken up; what plans he has to introduce targets for the number of women to take up an apprenticeship and in what locations the apprenticeship will be taught.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what qualifications will be required for a person to be eligible for the Commercial Airline Pilot Standard apprenticeship.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of the costs of the Commercial Airline Pilot Standard apprenticeship will be paid by the Government per apprentice.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what wage is planned to be paid to apprentices who take up the Commercial Airline Pilot Standard apprenticeship.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how long qualification for a Commercial Airline Pilot Standard apprenticeship will take.

Anne Milton: The Institute for Apprenticeships (IFA), an independent employer-led organisation, is responsible for the development of new apprenticeship standards including the timings for the introduction of the Commercial Airline Pilot standard. Employers are working with the IFA on the development of the Commercial Airline Pilot standard, which is not yet ready for delivery. This apprenticeship will be allocated to a funding band once the standard and end point assessment plan have been developed. It will be for the employer group developing the Commercial Airline Pilot standard to determine the eligibility criteria and the appropriate length of the apprenticeship to ensure full competency of the standard and compliance with any licensing requirements. An apprenticeship standard must have a minimum duration of 12 months. Apprenticeships are jobs and as such the number of apprenticeship opportunities offered, and the locations of those opportunities, will be determined by employers. An employer will also determine apprentice pay taking into account the Apprentice National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage: https://www.gov.uk/apprenticeships-guide/pay-and-conditions. We have not set a target for the number of apprentices that will take up any particular apprenticeship nor have we set targets for starts by women. Women accounted for 53 per cent of apprenticeship starts in 2016/17.

Universities: Libraries

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Guardian article published on 26 December 2017, entitled Jo Johnson to tell universities to stop no-platforming speakers, which universities have removed books from university libraries due to the inclusion of trigger words.

Mr Sam Gyimah: In the speech which resulted in this article, my Rt hon. Friend the Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation gave two distinct examples of threats to freedom of speech – the removal of ‘offensive’ material from libraries, and the drawing up of lists of ‘trigger words’. He did not state that books were being removed due to the inclusion of trigger words.

Pupils: Absenteeism

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many authorised pupil absences for illness were there in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each (i) spring term and (ii) autumn term in each year since 2010.

Nadhim Zahawi: The accompanying table provides the number of absence sessions due to illness in state-funded primary and secondary schools in each spring and autumn term, for the 2010/11 to 2016/17 academic years.



Sessions of pupil absence for illness
(Excel SpreadSheet, 20.36 KB)

Department for Education: Departmental Responsibilities

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the roles and responsibilities of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of States in his Department are.

Nadhim Zahawi: I have been appointed as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families at the Department of Education, and my responsibilities will be confirmed in due course.Lord Agnew is the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the School System. His responsibilities currently include:a strong school system (including free schools, academies, multi-academy trusts, university technical colleges, studio schools, faith schools, independent schools, home education, supplementary schools)tackling school underperformanceschool improvement (including teaching school alliances, national and local leaders of education and school improvement funds)school governanceschool capital investment (including new school places, school maintenance, land and playing fields)tackling extremism in schools and collegesbehaviour and attendance, exclusions and alternative provision.

Children: Disability

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with local authorities to discuss their statutory responsibilities for children with disabilities.

Nadhim Zahawi: The former Minister for Children and Families, my hon. Friend for Scarborough and Whitby (Robert Goodwill), wrote to the Directors of Children’s Services in all English local authorities on 12 September 2017 to remind them of their statutory duty to complete transfer reviews of Statements of Special Education Needs by 31 March 2018. In addition, ministers from the Department for Education (DfE) have written to all local authorities whose areas have been inspected under the Ofsted/Care Quality Commission Special Educational Needs and Disability inspection framework, and have written again, after 12 months, to those areas identified by the inspections as having significant weaknesses. These letters follow up the key points raised in the inspection reports, including any that relate to statutory responsibilities for children with disabilities. DfE officials, working closely with partners, including NHS England, have also engaged with local authorities, particularly those with significant weaknesses identified, to provide support and challenge on their statutory responsibilities in this area, and have seen a proactive and positive response.

Social Services: Children

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which local authorities' children’s services departments are now (a) independent trusts and (b) community interest companies; and what the associated costs were of setting up each of those trusts and companies.

Nadhim Zahawi: There are currently two independent trusts established with support from this department: the Doncaster Children’s Service Trust (established in October 2014) and Slough Children’s Services Trust (established in September 2015). The department paid £2.9 million and £3.3 million towards set up costs for Doncaster and Slough respectively. Sunderland County Council established a community interest company, Together for Children, in April 2017. The department’s contribution to the set up costs for this company was £2.5 million. ‘Achieving for Children’ (AfC) is also a community interest company that was established in 2014 to provide services for Richmond and Kingston. It was established independently from the department and we did not contribute to its set up. AfC receive money through the Partners In Practice programme and has recently expanded into a third local authority (Windsor and Maidenhead).

Foster Care

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish a list of the organisations and people who responded to his Department's National fostering stocktake consultation.

Nick Gibb: A summary of responses to the call for evidence will be published alongside Sir Martin Narey and Mark Owers’ review of the fostering system in England. They will not, however, be publishing a full list of respondents.

Pre-school Education: Disadvantaged

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what percentage of children in (a) Nottinghamshire and (b) England who are (i) eligible and (ii) not eligible for free school meals have achieved school readiness standards at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage in each year since 2015.

Nadhim Zahawi: The data requested is published in table 6 of the additional tables by pupil characteristics within the ‘Early years foundation stage profile results: 2016 to 2017’ statistical first release available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/early-years-foundation-stage-profile-results-2016-to-2017.

Schools: Standards

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) primary and (b) secondary age children in (i) Nottinghamshire and (ii) England that attend a school rated (A) outstanding and (B) good by Ofsted.

Nick Gibb: Ofsted inspection data shows that in Nottinghamshire, 15% of pupils were in outstanding primary schools and 76% in good primary schools as at August 31, 2017. In England, 20% of pupils were in outstanding primary schools and 70% in good primary schools as at August 31, 2017.Ofsted inspection data also shows that in Nottinghamshire, 30% of pupils were in outstanding secondary schools and 60% in good secondary schools as at August 31, 2017. In England, 28% of pupils were in outstanding secondary schools and 55% in good secondary schools as at August 31, 2017.Ofsted’s latest statistics are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/maintained-schools-and-academies-inspections-and-outcomes-as-at-31-august-2017.

Education: Nottinghamshire

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children in (a) Ashfield, (b) Rushcliffe and (c) Mansfield who are (i) eligible and (ii) not eligible for free school meals reached the expected standard in (A) reading, (B) writing, (C) maths and (D) all of those subjects at the end of Key Stage 2 in 2017.

Nick Gibb: The number and proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in a) reading, b) writing, c) maths and d) all three combined, split by free school meal eligibility, in 2017 for the requested constituencies can be found in the attached table.



122468 Table
(Word Document, 25.76 KB)

GCSE: Standards

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average Attainment 8 score is per pupil who is (a) eligible and (b) not eligible for free school meals in (i) Ashfield, (ii) Mansfield, (iii) Rushcliffe and (iv) England in 2016 and 2017.

Nick Gibb: Key stage 4 pupil attainment (including Attainment 8) in 2016/17, for England, split by eligibility for free school meals, will be published in the department’s statistical first release on 25 January 2018[1]. Parliamentary constituency data for all pupils will also be published on 25 January and breakdowns by pupil characteristics (such as eligibility for free school meals) will be available from that date.The Average Attainment 8 score of pupils, at the end of key stage 4, split by eligibility for free school meals (FSM) in each requested constituency for 2015/16 is available in the attached table.The 2015/16 figures for England are published in the ‘Characteristics national tables’ as part of the department’s statistical first release.  [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-gcses-key-stage-4 - Select the ‘Revised GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2016 to 2017’ link at the top of the page when it is added on 25 January and downloading the ‘characteristics national tables’ file. 



122469 Table
(Word Document, 14.64 KB)

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Childbirth

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women in each prison establishment gave birth in 2017.

Dr Phillip Lee: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Drugs

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in which prison was the largest weight of drugs was found in 2017.

Rory Stewart: The illicit supply of drugs undermines the safety and security of prisons. We are taking urgent and decisive action tackle those behind this criminal enterprise. In 2017, the prison with the largest weight of drugs found was HMP Hindley with a total drug weight of 13.6kg seized.

Prisons: Mobile Phones

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many mobile phones or sim cards were found in each prison in 2017.

Rory Stewart: The table below provides the number of mobile phones and sim cards found in 2017, broken down by each prison establishment. Number of mobile phones and SIM cards1 found in prisons, 2017, England and WalesEstablishment Number of mobile phones Number of SIM cards Altcourse490451Ashfield21Aylesbury348156Bedford14296Belmarsh4336Berwyn6863Birmingham228242Brinsford15655Bristol8334Brixton8047Bronzefield2428Buckley Hall183261Bullingdon7554Bure11Cardiff5744Channings Wood8945Chelmsford379209Coldingley13750Cookham Wood119Dartmoor1330Deerbolt4138Doncaster207139Dovegate213125Downview424Drake Hall1028Durham12271East Sutton Park11Eastwood Park44Erlestoke8546Exeter4831Featherstone186175Feltham3924Ford418101Forest Bank539218Foston Hall23Frankland2924Full Sutton1215Garth14857Gartree8168Glen Parva6442Grendon/Spring Hill5533Guys Marsh11469Haverigg8482Hewell247147High Down11478Highpoint419226Hindley418235Hollesley Bay13148Holme House9362Hull9445Humber236147Huntercombe4533Isis7264Isle of Wight1412Kirkham354135Kirklevington1710Lancaster Farms12356Leeds227127Leicester8260Lewes18480Leyhill106Lincoln4724Lindholme359173Littlehey52Liverpool168240Long Lartin4335Low Newton11Lowdham Grange12382Maidstone205106Manchester18590Moorland6361Moorland Open (Hatfield)11143Morton Hall165Mount266138New Hall25North Sea Camp1224Northumberland218159Norwich9172Nottingham14384Oakwood212100Onley22599Parc193166Pentonville27992Peterborough23260Portland140102Preston9541Ranby194183Risley197136Rochester27793Rye Hill36Send426Sheppey: Elmley15735Sheppey: Standford Hill17366Sheppey: Swaleside323238Stafford32Stocken5951Stoke Heath9570Styal926Sudbury29192Swansea5136Swinfen Hall7173Thameside248102Thorn Cross16465Usk\Prescoed3217Verne1212Wakefield11Wandsworth8344Warren Hill1018Wayland238165Wealstun184110Werrington1013Wetherby65Whatton20Whitemoor2432Winchester4239Woodhill5038Wormwood Scrubs25197Wymott8482Escort Areas10Total 14,7788,878  Data Sources and Quality These figures have been drawn from the HMPPS Incident Reporting System.  Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although the figures are shown to the last case the figures may not be accurate to that level. We are determined to tackle head-on the issues that undermine the safety and security of our prisons. We are taking decisive measures to find and block mobiles, including an investment of £2million into detection equipment, including hand-held detectors and portable detection devices. These figures highlight the success of these measures, and the determination of prison staff to disrupt this behaviour.

Reoffenders

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) men and (b) women given an indeterminate sentence for public protection under section 225 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 have upon release gone on to commit a further criminal offence of a sexual or violent nature.

Rory Stewart: For the purposes of the Probation Serious Further Offence Review Procedures, a serious further offence (SFO) is where an offender subject to current or recent statutory supervision by providers of probation services is charged with an offence listed in Schedule 15A[1] of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. The IPP sentence was abolished for offenders convicted after 3 December 2012. HM Prison and Probation Service and the Parole Board have worked together to improve the progression of IPP prisoners, so that, where those prisoners embrace the opportunities given to them, they may demonstrate to the Board that they are safe to be released. Accordingly, the independent Parole Board has directed the release of significantly more offenders on an IPP licence than it had in previous years, which is why we see offenders on an IPP licence charged with an SFOs from 2013/14. Since the abolition of IPP sentences on 3 Dec 2012, the Parole Board has directed the release of around 2,100 offenders on an IPP licence. Of that number, no women and 24 men have been convicted a serious violent or sexual offence, as defined by the Probation SFO Review Procedures. [1] Those offences currently listed in Probation Instruction 15/2014

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Homelessness: Rural Areas

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will ensure that the Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Reduction Taskforce considers the matter of rural homelessness.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: Tackling homelessness is a complex issue with no single solution, but we are determined to help the most vulnerable in society whether they live in towns, cities or rural areas. I can assure you that the Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Reduction Taskforce will consider homelessness in both urban and rural areas.

Non-domestic Rates: Liverpool City Region

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 December 2017 to Question 120091 on non-domestic rates: Liverpool City Region, if his Department will expand the scope of the draft Non-Domestic Rating (Property in Common Occupation) Bill with additional clauses to enact those powers.

Jake Berry: Holding answer received on 16 January 2018



The Government is committed to ensuring that the Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has the appropriate powers to help promote local growth.However, given the very specific purpose of the draft Non-Domestic Rating (Property in Common Occupation) Bill the Government does not consider that this is the appropriate vehicle.The Department will continue to engage with the Mayor and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to work through this point.

EU Grants and Loans

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, given the UK’s commitment to participate in the EU’s multilateral financial framework 2014-2020, when the Government plans to make funding available from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Jake Berry: Holding answer received on 16 January 2018



The government is committed to ensuring there is no gap in local economic growth funding.   We are continuing to develop the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and will consult widely on its design and priorities later this year.

Children in Care

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on outcomes for looked-after children.

Rishi Sunak: Holding answer received on 17 January 2018



This Government has high ambitions for looked after children and care leavers.The forthcoming corporate parenting provisions in the Children and Social Work Act will ensure high quality care and support for these vulnerable young people.

Social Services: Finance

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that adult social care is adequately funded.

Rishi Sunak: The Government provided an additional £2 billion at the 2017 Spring Budget for adult social care, of which £1 billion was provided in 2017-18. This meant that by the start of this financial year, the Government had given councils access to £9.25 billion additional funding for adult social care over the next three years.

Local Government Finance

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the local government finance settlement on the ability of local authorities to meet their statutory responsibilities.

Rishi Sunak: The Government periodically assesses resourcing requirements for local government as part of each spending review, ensuring a sustainable basis for local authorities to discharge their functions.

Local Government Pension Scheme

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the evidence used to calculate the minimum threshold for pooling assets under the local government pension scheme.

Rishi Sunak: The Government 's expectations for the minimum threshold for the pooling assets under the local government pension scheme, and a summary of the evidence taken into account when setting that threshold, are set out in the 'Local Government Pension Scheme: Investment reform criteria and guidance' (November 2015).

Local Government Pension Scheme

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government for what reasons the scale criteria of £25 billion for pooling local government pension scheme assets has been dropped; and what evidence was used to inform the lowering of that threshold.

Rishi Sunak: The Government continues to believe that investment pools of at least £25 billion are required to deliver the full potential for reduced costs in the local government pension scheme. However, the Government has accepted that the Welsh pool, established by, and for the Welsh pension funds, is in a special position, taking account of the possibility of eventual devolution.

Local Government Pension Scheme

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government what the cost to the public purse of establishing each local government pension scheme pool has been to date; and what costs to the public purse his Department has forecast for each local government pension scheme pool in each year until 2020.

Rishi Sunak: The final proposals for the development of the pools in July 2016 estimated set up costs excluding transition of assets of around £20 million, and initial running costs of around £11 million per annum, in order to achieve estimated total net savings of £1-2 billion by 2033. The costs of establishing each pool in the local government pension scheme, and future costs, will be met by the participating funds and will be published in the annual reports of the pools.

Local Government Pension Scheme: Pay

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government  if he will publish the (a) pay and (b) other benefits of the (i) chair, (ii) vice chair, (iii) non-executive and (i) executive directors of each Local Government Pension Scheme pool.

Rishi Sunak: The pay and benefits of directors of the pool operating companies established to manage local government pension scheme assets are a matter for the participating funds as shareholders. However the Government expects that publicly-owned pool operating companies will provide full disclosure of directors’ remuneration in their annual reports.

Ministry of Defence

HMS Prince of Wales

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether alterations to the design of HMS Prince of Wales (a) have been made and (b) will be made following the sale of HMS Ocean.

Guto Bebb: There have been no alterations to the design of HMS Prince of Wales, she is being built to plan.The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 allocated £60 million to further optimise a Queen Elizabeth Class carrier to better meet the demands of the Landing Platform Helicopter role. This includes Communications Systems for amphibious operations, improving the domestic services in the aircraft carrier for Royal Marines, providing ammunition storage, increasing the number of helicopter operating spots and expanding the operating capacity for helicopters.

Army: Recruitment

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) planned and (b) actual savings to his Department were under the Army Recruiting Partnership Project in each financial year between 2012-13 and 2016-17.

Mark Lancaster: The Recruiting Partnership Project is a ten-year output based contract between the Army and Capita, designed to incentivise the Provider to deliver the right quantity and quality of recruits. The Main Gate Business Case (MGBC), in September 2011, forecast £267 million of benefits over the life of the project. The revised benefits forecast, approved in May 2016 is £266 million. The originally planned and actual savings (in £ millions) in each of the requested Financial Years (FY) are shown below: FY2011-122012-132013-142014-152015-162016-17MGBC Forecast£1.07£-3.36£20.51£32.4£26.13£27.58Actual£7.6£41.6£-4.93£-43.15£-6.42£8.03** Forecast figure as project accounts for FY 2016-17 have not been formerly validated. The shortfall in benefits in the early years reflects additional funding injections including, to enable Defence Recruiting System delivery. We expect these to be offset in later years by increased savings in military manpower costs.

Royal Welsh

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where recruits to the Royal Welsh regiment are based when not on active service.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the estimated contribution of the Royal Welsh regiment was to the local economy where that regiment based in Wiltshire in each of the last five years.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many jobs the Lucknow Barracks in Tidworth, Wiltshire sustained in each of the last five years.

Mark Lancaster: Recruits to the 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh initially attend the Infantry Training Centre at Catterick before moving to join their battalion which has been based at Lucknow barracks, in Tidworth, Wiltshire since April 2013. From this time until present, 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh manpower liability has been around 730 military posts and around 10 directly employed civilian posts. Civilian contractors also support the battalion but due to the way that these contracts are organised by region, we are unable to provide numbers.The decision to base a Regiment in a specific location is dictated by the role, command and training requirements of the Regiment. The Ministry of Defence does not routinely undertake economic impact assessments to determine the contribution of any unit or site to the local economy, we have not made an estimate of the contribution of the 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh.

Welsh Guards

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where recruits to the Welsh Guards regiment are based when not on active service.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an estimate of the contribution of the Welsh Guards regiment to the local economy around Woking where it is based; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many jobs the Elizabeth Barracks in Pirbright, Surrey sustained in each of the last five years.

Mark Lancaster: Recruits to the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards initially attend the Infantry Training Centre at Catterick before joining the battalion at Elizabeth Barracks in Pirbright, Surrey in November 2014. Since this time the manpower liability has been around 580 military posts and around 10 directly employed civilian posts. Civilian contractors also support the battalion but due to the way that these contracts are organised by region, we are unable to provide numbers. The decision to base a regiment in a specific location is dictated by the role, command and training requirements of the regiment. The Ministry of Defence does not routinely undertake economic impact assessments to determine the contribution of any unit or site to the local economy, we have not made an estimate of the contribution of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.

Navy: Joint Exercises

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the names are of all the joint military exercises with other countries which Royal Navy vessels participated in during 2017.

Mark Lancaster: The names of the joint military exercises in which Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships participated during 2017, up to 6 December are given below.Exercise Cougar VoyageExercise Artemis TridentExercise Sea KhanjarExercise BaltopsExercise Azraq SerpentExercise Trade Winds 17Exercise Unified TridentExercise Dynamic MongooseExercise Dynamic GuardExercise BreezeExercise AmanExercise GrampusExercise Khunjar HaddExercise Saxon WarriorExercise East DolphinExercise Joint Warrior 172Exercise Joint Warrior 171Exercise Brilliant MarinerExercise Alligator DaggerExercise Dogu AkdenizExercise Samurai BladeExercise NiriisExercise KonkanExercise Nusret It is UK policy that we do not comment on matters relating to submarine activity or operations as this would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces. Notes:Some passing exercises undertaken with other nations are not named.

Armed Forces: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made the percentage of serving British Armed Forces personnel who were resident in Wales at the time of their recruitment.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence has made no such estimate. An exercise to collate the requested information could be conducted only at disproportionate cost.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department's Investment Approvals Committee plans to confirm its acquisition strategy for the planned Mechanised Infantry Vehicle programme.

Guto Bebb: An announcement on the acquisition strategy for the Mechanised Infantry Vehicle programme is expected shortly.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the first delivery of vehicles from the Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (MIV) programme will take place in 2021; and whether the date for the first MIV-equipped battlegroup to reach an initial operational capability is set for the start of 2023.

Guto Bebb: The precise delivery schedule of the Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (MIV) is yet to be confirmed. The project assessment phase will determine the timing and delivery sequence for the Army's new Strike Brigades.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much was paid from the public purse to civilian staff from (a) Network Rail and (b) the German Federal Railway Die Bahn to oversee the loading of armoured vehicles to trains and certifying them as safe to move in each of the last five years.

Guto Bebb: This information is not held in the format requested.

Defence Equipment

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department will publish the Defence Equipment Plan 2017-2027.

Guto Bebb: The Ministry of Defence's Defence Equipment Plan 2017-2027 is due to be published by the end of this Financial Year.And it will be available via the link below:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/defence-equipment-plan-reports

USA: Nuclear Weapons

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the US administration's latest Nuclear Posture Review; and whether that review has any implications for UK nuclear defence policy.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the that country's latest Nuclear Posture Review; and what implications that review has for the UK's nuclear defence policy.

Gavin Williamson: The Government has close and regular dialogue with the US Administration on all aspects of nuclear and arms control policy. In early 2017, President Trump announced that the US would conduct a Nuclear Posture Review. The US has sought views from the UK and other Allies as part of the process. The Review has not yet been concluded.

Nuclear Weapons

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment his Department has made of the strategic relevance of the deployment of low-yield nuclear warheads.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment his Department has made of the strategic relevance of the deployment of low-yield nuclear warheads.

Gavin Williamson: This Government remains fully committed to maintaining the UK's minimum, credible, independent nuclear deterrent. We continue to assess developments in the international security environment and remain confident we have the right balance of nuclear capability to deter the most extreme threats to the UK and our allies.

USA: Trident Missiles

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had discussions with his US counterpart on the development of a modified version of the Trident D5 submarine-launched missiles; and if he will make a statement.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had any discussions with his US counterpart on the development of a modified version of the Trident D5 submarine-launched missiles; and if he will make a statement.

Gavin Williamson: The Government has close and regular dialogue with the US Administration on all aspects of nuclear and arms control policy. On 20 December 2017, we published the report 'The United Kingdom's Future Nuclear Deterrent: The Dreadnought Programme, 2017 Update to Parliament', which includes aspects of our work with the US on maintaining the Trident D5 II missile and associated UK warhead.



HCWS377 - Future Nuclear Deterrent 2017 Update
(Word Document, 13.45 KB)

Nuclear Weapons

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Government’s policy is on the use of nuclear weapons in retaliation to non-nuclear strategic attacks.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Government’s policy is on the use of nuclear weapons in retaliation to non-nuclear strategic attacks.

Gavin Williamson: As set out in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, we continue to keep our nuclear posture under constant review in the light of the international security environment and the actions of potential adversaries. We remain deliberately ambiguous about precisely when, how and at what scale we would contemplate use of our nuclear weapons, in order not to simplify the calculations of any potential aggressor and in order to protect our national security.

Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of the development of new nuclear weapons with the Government's policy on non-proliferation.

Gavin Williamson: Any decisions on UK nuclear deterrence policy or capability will be fully compliant with our obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2018 to Question 121442, on Armed Forces: Recruitment, when those system defects will be fixed; and what assessment he has made of the effect of those defects on recruitment.

Mark Lancaster: I continue to monitor the implementation of the Defence Recruitment Process closely and can confirm that an agreed remediation plan is in place that will see updates to the system occurring through to the end of February 2018. The most pressing defects have been prioritised and a significant number have already been addressed. All Services have implemented Business Continuity Plans to maintain an active recruitment pipeline.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Autism

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect on young autistic adults in further education of the implementation of universal credit.

Alok Sharma: The Department continues to evaluate Universal Credit as it is delivered. The Universal Credit Evaluation is a comprehensive and multi-dimensional programme of analysis designed to assess the economic, social and behavioural impacts of the Universal Credit experience. Research and analysis is conducted to provide continuous tracking and inform the evaluation and expansion of Universal Credit, focusing specifically on the effects of Universal Credit on all claimants’ behaviours and outcomes.

Universal Credit: Landlords

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the timetable for the roll-out of the universal credit landlords' portal.

Alok Sharma: The Department is currently working on the list of landlords to enrol on to the Landlord Portal for the period February to April 2018. Once the landlords have been contacted, the list will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

Universal Credit

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which local authorities to which universal credit full service has been rolled out have (a) trusted partner status and (b) access to the landlord portal.

Alok Sharma: The list of landlords already enrolled on the Landlord Portal is available in the House of Commons library at the following link. This includes stock owning Local Authorities where applicable. http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/business-papers/commons/deposited-papers/?fd=2017-10-18&td=2017-11-17&search_term=Department+for+Work+and+Pensions&itemId=119004#toggle-664

Universal Credit

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2018 to Question 121091, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that her Department's staff are aware of support available locally and that conversations during the initial stages of a universal credit claim include that reference to that support; and if she will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: Accessing digital, budgeting and other support is discussed with customers at the initial claim stage and throughout the customer journey where a need/barrier is identified. Budgeting advice specifically is offered to all Universal Credit claimants when they make a new claim. This service is provided by external organisations such as a local authority, Citizens Advice Bureau or Money Advice Service. DWP staff are made aware of the specialist help available within their area, including information on services and support and referral arrangements, via the District Provision Tool. This digital tool lists available provision and support, (in a district and nationally) delivered by Jobcentre Plus, Skills Funding Agency, Skills Development Scotland, Careers Wales, other providers, local authorities, and independent and volunteer organisations.

Social Security Benefits

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to explain to applicants at jobcentres the difference between (a) contribution-based and (b) income-based jobseekers allowance and employment and support allowance.

Alok Sharma: The Department has recently re-launched instructions to all staff, including those who work in jobcentres, to help them support customers in determining which benefits they are able to claim. This includes information about contributory benefits. There are many sources of advice and information available about this issue for claimants. The Employment and Support Allowance and Jobseeker’s Allowance pages on Gov.UK include information about contributory based benefits. The content of these pages has recently been reviewed and improved and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/employment-support-allowance https://www.gov.uk/jobseekers-allowance

Pensions

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of safeguards to ensure pensions are inherited to the intended recipient.

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will take steps to ensure pensions are inherited by the intended recipient.

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensions have been inherited by an unintended recipient in each of the last five years.

Guy Opperman: The administration and payment of survivor benefits in occupational pension schemes is the responsibility of individual pension schemes and is not a matter for government.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: ICT

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,  what steps his Department is taking to implement the guidance set out by the Government Commercial Function in its paper entitled Exiting Major IT Contracts: Guidance for Departments, published in November 2017, in respect of (a) using market engagement, (b) setting up disaggregation work, (c) risk assessment, (d) developing a programme plan through the transition, (e) identifying the skills and capabilities that will be needed in the future and (f) any other work related to that guidance.

George Eustice: In 2014 Defra has established a formal programme, the UnITy programme, to implement Government guidance on exiting large IT contracts. It will replace Defra’s current IBM and Capgemini IT contracts with a more disaggregated supply chain. Defra’s approach is consistent with the recent Government Commercial Function guidance on Exiting Major IT Contracts. Market engagement events have taken place for each procurement, in advance of issuing ‘calls for competition’. The UnITy programme has been set up with formal governance. The programme also has a rigorous approach to risk management and risks are reviewed at its Programme Board. Each workstream that underpins UnITy develops a transition plan with the future service provider and the exiting suppliers.  Defra has undertaken a review of the capabilities it requires in the future and mapped this against its existing capabilities.

Factory Farming: Ammonia and Nitrates

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the effect on the environment of (a) nitrate and (b) ammonia produced by intensive livestock units in the UK.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: In 2015, agriculture accounted for around 81% of total UK ammonia emissions. Nitrate pollution from farming accounts for 50% of nitrate water pollution. That is why intensive pig and poultry farms are regulated under the Environmental Permitting Regulations. These farms must have an environmental permit which sets limits on their emissions and requires the use of best available techniques to minimise pollution, including ammonia emissions and nitrate levels in water. It is also why we announced on 30 November that new rules for all farmers in England will be introduced in April 2018 to improve water quality. We have ambitious targets in place to further reduce ammonia emissions by 2020 and 2030 and will publish a Clean Air Strategy, setting out how we will work towards these goals, for consultation in 2018. Earlier this year, we provided practical help to farmers to reduce ammonia emissions by providing on-farm advice and grants for slurry store covers. Furthermore the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan has set out our intention to work with farmers to use fertilisers more efficiently to reduce diffuse pollution from agriculture and its impact on the environment.

Food: Prices

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the effect on food price inflation in (a) 2019-2020, (b) 2020-2021 and (c) 2021-2022 of (i) the UK leaving the EU customs territory on 29 March 2019 and (ii) the UK leaving the EU customs territory on 29 March 2019 and levying most-favoured nation tariffs on foodstuffs imported from the EU after that date.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the distributional effect per income decile of the population of food price inflation in (a) 2019-2020, (b) 2020-2021 and (c) 2021-2022 in the event that (i) the UK leaves the EU customs territory on 29 March 2019 and (ii) the UK leaves the EU customs territory on 29 March 2019 and levies most-favoured nation tariffs on foodstuffs imported from the EU after that date.

George Eustice: Currently the most important drivers of change in the cost of food are commodity prices, exchange rate and oil prices. This will not change when we leave the EU. The UK Government does not directly control these factors. However, leaving the EU gives us the chance to decide our trade policies, enabling us to take control of more levers to help facilitate competitive and frictionless trade.We are seeking to negotiate a unique and ambitious economic partnership with the EU, as well as future trade deals with the rest of the world.

Hunting: Health Hazards

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has given to the potential risks to human and animal health posed by packs of hounds and hunting activities.

George Eustice: There is no evidence to suggest that packs of hounds and hunting activities carry significant risks to human or animal health.

Hunting: Diseases

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the risks of the spread of disease posed by sporting visits made by registered hunts in which horses, hounds, vehicles and followers are taken to hunts outside their usual area.

George Eustice: There is no evidence to suggest that sporting visits pose a significant risk.

Agriculture: Israel

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what cooperation programmes his Department has with the Government of Israel for research and trade in the agricultural sector and what assessment he has made of the potential for future collaboration in that sector after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: The UK, as part of the EU, is currently a member of around 40 EU trade agreements covering over 55 countries; one such country is Israel. After leaving the EU, the UK will be able to implement an independent trade policy. This would make it possible to revisit and improve existing agreements where appropriate. Defra does not currently cooperate on agricultural research programmes with Israel bilaterally. We do cooperate with Israel through multilateral research programmes such as the Joint Programming Initiative on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change (FACCE-JPI) and the STAR-IDAZ International Research Consortium on Animal Health and we intend to continue to do so after we have left the EU.

Home Office

Passports: Lost Property

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many UK passports have been lost abroad in each of the last five years.

Caroline  Nokes: When a customer loses or has a passport stolen while abroad the guidance is that they should report this to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) where it has been lost. These losses and thefts are recorded by the FCO and the information is passed to Her Majesty’s Passport Office who will take necessary action to cancel the passport as appropriate.Previous figures for UK passports lost & stolen outside the UK between 2008-2013 have been published by the FCO:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foi-release-uk-passports-lost-or-stolen-abroadOther figures published by the FCO relating to lost and stolen passports abroad by British citizens can be found in the attached links:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/passport-statisticshttps://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/helping-british-nationals-abroad-2016

Immigrants: Employment

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff hours her Department spent confirming whether employees have the right to work in the UK in response to queries from or on behalf of (a) employers and (b) employees in each of the last three years.

Caroline  Nokes: This data is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the differences are between the proposed settled status for EU nationals after the UK leaves the EU and the current status of EU citizens who obtained indefinite leave to remain before the UK joined the EU.

Caroline  Nokes: EU citizens and their family members who obtain settled status under the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) will be granted Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). This status will provide the holder with the same rights and access to benefits, education and healthcare as those who obtained it under the Immigration Rules before the UK joined the EUIn addition, the UK and the European Commission have agreed that those granted settled status under the WA will also benefit from certain more favourable entitlements including, for example, that ILR will not lapse unless the holder has been continuously absent from the UK for over five years, as opposed to two years; and more generous provisions relating to future family reunification.Further details of the agreement with the European Commission can be found in ‘Joint report on progress during phase 1 of negotiations under Article 50 TEU on the United Kingdom’s orderly withdrawal from the European Union’ published on 8 December 2017, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/joint-report-on-progress-during-phase-1-of-negotiations-under-article-50-teu-on-the-uks-orderly-withdrawal-from-the-eu.

Immigrants: Health Services

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much has been raised by the Immigration Health Surcharge for the NHS in each of the last five years.

Caroline  Nokes: The Immigration Health Surcharge was introduced in April 2015. Income received from Immigration Health Surcharge payments since then is reported annually in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts. However, the report shows the total amount of Immigration Health income raised in any given financial year, including the amount transferred at the year end to the Consolidated Fund for Extra Receipts. It does not show how much money was spent by the Home Office on collection costs, or how much was transferred to Department of Health and the Devolved Administrations for spending on the NHS; it just shows the sum of these two items. Therefore, to report the amount of Immigration Health Surcharge income “raised for the NHS” would equate to putting new information in the public domainThe Home Office collects this fee on behalf of the Department of Health and after deducting its administration/collection costs, it transfers the balance through the Main and Supplementary Estimate exercises using the Barnett Formula. Any surplus of income received over and above the allocations made in the Main and Supplementary Estimate exercises is transferred to the Consolidated Fund for Extra Receipts at the end of the year and made available by HM Treasury to Dept Health and the Devolved Administrations for spending on the NHS in the following financial year. In the last Immigration Health Surcharge Order debated in Parliament £140.1m was made available for the NHS in FY15/16. Figure for FY16/17 is not readily availableFY2016/17 - page 117: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/627853/ho_annual_report_and_accounts_2016_2017.pdfFY2015/16 - page 134 & 135: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/539638/HO_AR_16_gov.pdf

Asylum: Appeals

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will examine the reasons for the number of asylum applications which are overturned on appeal; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline  Nokes: UK Visas and Immigration reviews all asylum appeals allowed by the Tribunal and is committed to using this information to continue to improve performance.

Refugees: Families

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications, by nationality, for family reunification with a beneficiary of international protection were received by the UK in 2017.

Caroline  Nokes: Information on the total number of visa applications in the ‘Family: Other’ category is published quarterly.The most recent information can be found in the Home Office publication ‘Immigration Statistics, July – September 2017’, Visas data tables volume 1, table vi_01_q, available from https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-july-to-september-2017

Refugees: Families

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many decisions made by the UK on applications for family reunification with a beneficiary of international protection were (a) accepted and (b) rejected in 2017.

Caroline  Nokes: Information on grants and refusals of Family: Other are published in the Home Office publication ‘Immigration Statistics, July – September 2017’, Visas data tables volume 1, table vi_01_q, available from _https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-july-to-september-2017.The “Family: Other” category consists of: • Family reunion: pre-existing family members (partners, minor children) of a person with refugee leave or humanitarian protection, who has not yet obtained British citizenship;• From July 2012: dependants who are not partners or children of those with refugee leave or humanitarian protection;• From July 2012: parents with access rights to a child.There are a small number of applications for family reunion where leave is granted in exceptional circumstances outside the Immigration Rules which are not included in the Family: Other category.

Refugees: Travel Requirements

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many travel documents were issued to beneficiaries of international protection in 2017.

Caroline  Nokes: The Home Office publishes data on the number of travel documents issued to those people who are not British and cannot use or get a passport . Information correct to August 2017 can be accessed via: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-august-2017 Table TD01. Information regarding eligibility for travel documents can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/apply-home-office-travel-document.

Immigration

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for (a) indefinite and (b) limited leave to remain were under consideration on the latest date for which figures are available; and how many of those applications had been lodged more than six months previously

Caroline  Nokes: Information relating to the current number of applications outstanding is management information and subject to change,However, published information on the number of applications for leave to remain in all categories, as well as data on UK Visa and Immigration performance against service standards for applications made in the UK and from overseas, and the proportion of those cases classified as non-straightforward, can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#uk-visas-and-immigration.Where an application is defined as non-straightforward due to complexity, the customer will be written to within the normal processing time to explain why it will not be decided within the normal standard, and to explain what will happen next

Asylum: Oxford

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons the decision was taken to require Oxford-based asylum seekers to have to report at Eaton House, Hounslow, rather than at a closer location such as an Oxford police station.

Caroline  Nokes: Immigration Enforcement staff are located according to demand. The relatively few individuals who are asked to travel as a result of office locations are issued with a travel warrant. Immigration Enforcement officers work in close partnership with the police to ensure the right arrangements are in place.

Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which organisations and bodies have requested permission to access Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre in each year since 2015-16; when each such organisation and body sought such permission; which of those requests were denied; and for what reason those requests were denied.

Caroline  Nokes: Since January 2016, when visits records were established, management information shows that no organisation or body has had its request to visit Dungavel House immigration removal centre declined.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 25 July 2017 to Question 5358, on Immigration: EU Nationals, whether those proposals will also apply to EU-born spouses who leave the UK after the UK exits the EU having previously resided here long-term with no formalised immigration status and who then wish to re-enter the UK at a later date.

Caroline  Nokes: The Withdrawal Agreement between the EU and the UK will protect EU citizens who have been exercising free movement rights in the UK at the time of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, on 29 March 2019. They will have a period of at least two years after the UK leaves the EU to apply for and secure their immigration status in UK lawThose who fall outside the scope of the Withdrawal Agreement will be subject to the post-exit immigration arrangements for EU citizens. The Government is considering a range of options for these arrangements.

Brook House Immigration Removal Centre

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps the Government has taken to improve conditions at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre.

Caroline  Nokes: The Government takes detainee welfare very seriously and expects the highest standards from those who manage the detention estate on its behalf.We have made this clear to G4S who are implementing a programme to enhance staffing and management and an action plan to deliver wider improvements at Brook House. These include the introduction of body worn cameras, improvements to the detection and prevention of drugs entering the centre and ensuring activities and facilities at the centre preserve and promote the mental and physical well being of detainees. Progress against this plan is being closely monitored.Stephen Shaw is currently undertaking a stock take of progress against the recommendations in his report into the Welfare in Detention of Vulnerable Persons published in January 2016. Brook House is within scope of this stock take. In addition, the G4S Board has also commissioned an independent review to establish the factors affecting staff morale and behaviour and attitudes to whistleblowing.Independent scrutiny is a vital part of assurance that our removal centres are secure and humane and we will continue to implement action in response to independent recommendations made by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons and by the centre’s Independent Monitoring Board.

Undocumented Migrants

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to collect data on the (a) ethnicity, (b) race and (c) religion of people recorded as encountered in immigration enforcement operations.

Caroline  Nokes: The Government has no plans to routinely collect data on the ethnicity, race or religion of people encountered on Immigration Enforcement operations. This data is not recorded as it is not relevant to the determination of a person’s immigration status at that point. This data may be captured at a later stage where it is relevant to an application made or the individual has been detained.

Visas

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to refund visa applicants who have paid for the online Premier Service and have not had their application processed within the quoted time-frame.

Caroline  Nokes: UK Visas and Immigration consider all requests for refunds on a case by case basis. Whether a refund is issued will depend on the specific circumstances of each caseRequests should be made via the complaints process:https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration/about/complaints-procedure#how-to-complain

Domestic Violence

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to announce the launch of the consultation on the Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill.

Victoria Atkins: We are committed to seeking the views of experts and practitioners on proposals for the draft domestic abuse Bill and supporting non-legislative measures. We are working with partners across Government on our domestic abuse consultation to ensure it is as robust and thorough as possible, before launching it shortly. The consultation will be accompanied by a number of road show events taking place around England and Wales.

Asylum

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cessation of international protection (Articles 11 and 17 Directive 2011/95/EU) decisions were made by the UK in response to asylum applications in 2017; and how many cessation of international protection decisions were made by the UK in 2017 by nationality of applicant.

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many withdrawal of international protection (Articles 14 and 19 Directive 2011/95/EU) decisions were made by the UK in response to asylum applications in 2017; and how many withdrawal of international protection decisions were made by the UK in 2017 by nationality of applicant.

Caroline  Nokes: We have a proud history of providing protection to those who need it, for as long as it is needed, in accordance with our international obligations under the Refugee Convention. However, refugee status is not necessarily permanent and it may be appropriate to revoke such status where it is clear someone no longer needs protection; where evidence emerges that status was obtained by deception; or where someone commits a serious crime and is a danger to the community or represents a threat to national security.

Immigrants

Mr Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 December 2017 to Question 116509, what the cost of unlawful detention claims paid by the Home Office was in (a) 2011, (b) 2012, (c) 2013, (d) 2014, (e) 2015 and (f) 2016.

Caroline  Nokes: For FY 2011/12, the Home Office does not hold the information in the format requested. Our ledger will not allow us to provide this level of detail for that Financial YearThe cost of unlawful detention claims for FYs 2012/13 onwards are included in the table below:Unlawful Detention Claims PaidYear£m2016/173.32015/164.12014/154.02013/144.82012/135.0Figures for FYs 2013/14 to 2015/16 were provided under previous PQ UIN 47658.

Brook House Immigration Removal Centre

Mr Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2017 to Question 116507, what the cost to the public purse was of running Brook House Immigration Removal Centre in the financial year 2016-17.

Caroline  Nokes: This information is commercially sensitive and release could prejudice the Home Office’s interests.

Brook House Immigration Removal Centre

Mr Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2017 to Question 116507, what the average annual cost of detaining an individual in immigration detention is.

Caroline  Nokes: The average cost can be found at the link below:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-enforcement-data-november-2017

Asylum: Syria

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that Orthodox Christians seeking asylum in the UK from Syria for persecution are given fair and appropriate treatment and consideration.

Caroline  Nokes: All claims for asylum are considered on their individual merits, and where people establish a genuine need for protection, or a well founded fear of persecution, refugee status will be granted.

Antisocial Behaviour

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she is taking to tackle anti-social behaviour; and what assessment she has made of trends in the levels of such behaviour over the last five years.

Victoria Atkins: On 24 December 2017, we published refreshed statutory guidance for frontline professionals on the use of the anti-social behaviour powers provided by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to support local agencies in tackling and preventing anti-social behaviour in their areas.The 2016/17 independent Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that 30% of adults aged 16 and over experienced or witnessed anti-social behaviour in their local areas in the last year. This proportion has fluctuated between 27% and 30% since the question was first asked in the 2011/12 Crime Survey.

Antisocial Behaviour: York Central

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many recorded incidences of anti-social behaviour there were in York Central constituency in each year since 2010.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office collects data on the number of anti-social behaviour incidents recorded by in England and Wales at the police force area level. Data are not available at the constituency level.Anti-social behaviour incidents recorded by the police are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and can be found here:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesbulletintables

Slavery

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of 27 October 2017, Official Report, column. 512, when a new single expert unit will be created in her Department to make decisions on whether a person is a victim of modern slavery.

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of 27 October 2017, Official Report, column. 512, what consultation has taken place on the single expert unit to be created in her Department to make decisions on whether a person is a victim of modern slavery.

Caroline  Nokes: On 26 October 2017 the Government announced its plans for reform of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) confirming the Government’s commitment to markedly improving the identification of, and support provided to, victims of modern slavery. This includes the creation of a new, single expert case work unit that is separate from the immigration system. The Modern Slavery Unit in the Home Office is working closely with the Competent Authorities to ensure a smooth transition to the single unit.  Detailed implementation plans for the reform programme are currently being developed, including in respect of the single casework unit and further information will be announced in due course.

Slavery

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of 27 October 2017, Official Report, column. 512, what the timetable is for the independent panel of experts to be established to review all negative decisions on modern slavery.

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of 27 October 2017, Official Report, column. 512, what the process is for the establishment of the independent panel of experts will be established to review all negative decisions on modern slavery.

Caroline  Nokes: On 26 October 2017 the Government announced its plans for reform of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) confirming the Government’s commitment to markedly improving the identification of, and support provided to, victims of modern slavery. This includes introducing an independent panel of experts to review all negative conclusive grounds decisions adding significantly to the scrutiny such cases currently receive. Detailed implementation plans for the reform programme are currently being developed, including in respect of the recruitment, training and establishment of the multi-disciplinary panels and further information will be announced in due course.

Home Office: Carers

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has a carer's policy for its employees; and what other steps her Department has taken to support employees with caring responsibilities.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office provides a range of policies and schemes to help our employees balance their caring responsibilities with their at work, e.g. annual leave, special leave, maternity leave, parental leave, adoption leave, flexible working and job sharing. A childcare voucher salary sacrifice scheme is also available to our employees for them to make savings on their child care costs. We also provide an Employee Assistance Programme where our employees can gain impartial and confidential support on mental health, emotional or financial problems.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the residence rights of the EU family members of UK nationals who have derived those rights under Ruiz Zambrano case law are; and whether they are covered by the Phase 1 agreement with the EU.

Caroline  Nokes: Until the UK leaves the European Union (EU), EU family members of UK nationals who have derived those rights under Ruiz Zambrano case law continue to have the same rights and status, and are subject to the same residence requirements under EU law, as was the case before Article 50 was triggeredThe Withdrawal Agreement between the EU and the UK will protect EU citizens who have been exercising free movement rights in the UK at the time of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, on 29 March 2019. This includes those who derive a right of residence from other instruments of EU law.

Football: Police

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Culture, Media and Sport, what information her Department holds on the amount contributed by Premier League football clubs toward crowd policing at football matches in each football season since 2010-2011.

Mr Nick  Hurd: Charging for Special Police Services is a matter for the relevant Police and Crime Commissioner. The Home Office does not formally request this information from police forces.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Travel

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the travel costs for his Department have been in each quarter since May 2015, by (a) mode of travel and (b) Minister or Official.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

HM Treasury

VAT: Registration

Laura Smith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to launch the Government's public consultation into the VAT registration threshold.

Mel Stride: As announced at Autumn Budget 2017, the Government will publish a consultation on the VAT registration threshold in 2018.

Bank Services: Internet

Chris Ruane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of people without access to online banking.

John Glen: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles data on the activities carried out by people that use the internet, including internet banking. This can be found at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/householdcharacteristics/homeinternetandsocialmediausage The ONS estimates that in Great Britain, in 2017, 90% of households had internet access and 63% of adults over the age of 16 used the internet to bank in 2017.

Banks: Government Assistance

Chris Ruane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding from the public purse the Government has provided to UK banks since 2008.

John Glen: The Office for Budget Responsibility publish an assessment of the fiscal impact of government interventions in the financial sector since the financial crisis. The OBR set out that since 2008 successive governments have provided £134 billion to the financial sector, in the form of equity injections in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds, holdings in Bradford & Bingley and Northern Rock, loans to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and efforts to protect depositors, as well as through providing additional support. The Government remains committed to returning the financial sector assets acquired in 2008 to 2009 to the private sector in a way that achieves value for money for taxpayers. The balance sheet of UK Asset Resolution, set up to manage the closed mortgage books of Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley, has reduced from £115.8 billion in 2010 to £21.1 billion as of September 2017; the Government disposed of £2.1 billion of RBS shares in 2015 and, at Autumn Budget 2017, announced that it intends to carry out a further programme of sales expected to dispose of around £15 billion worth of RBS shares; and in May 2017 the Government exited its shareholding in Lloyds Banking Group, fully returning the bank to the private sector, with sales generating over £21.2 billion for taxpayers (taking into account sales and dividends), representing almost £900 million more than the original investment.

HSBC: Low Pay

Chris Stephens: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many HMRC employees are paid less than £7.83 per hour; and if he will make a statement.

Mel Stride: 1,342 HMRC employees were paid below the annualised equivalent of £7.83 per hour as at 31 December 2017. HMRC’s annualized rate for the current 2017 NLW is £16,443, and six employees are paid at this rate. The annualized rate for 2018 will be £17,167, which will impact 1,342 employees on 1st April 2018.

Apprentices: Aviation

Diana Johnson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to charge VAT on any part of the training required to complete the Commercial Airline Pilot Standard apprenticeship.

Mel Stride: In line with the EU VAT Directive, UK law treats vocational training as VAT exempt where it is provided by specific eligible bodies, including universities, schools and certain not-for-profit institutions. It is for HM Revenue & Customs to determine on a case by case basis whether a body providing training for the Commercial Airline Pilot Standard Apprenticeship can qualify for the exemption under these rules.

Children: Day Care

Lucy Powell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average monthly amount is that (a) parents and (b) the Government has paid into tax free childcare accounts since those account were introduced.

Lucy Powell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families with disabled children have registered for a tax free childcare account.

Elizabeth Truss: There are currently 1,890 live Tax-Free Childcare accounts for disabled children. The average amount paid into Tax-Free Childcare accounts each month by parents is £7,195,428, and by the government is £1,823,442.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Brexit

Tom Brake: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the (a) amount of time and (b) resources that his Department allocated to the production of impact assessments on the UK leaving the EU; and on what date work on those impact assessments started.

Mr David Lidington: Impact Assessments, typically related to specific new primary legislation before Parliament, are narrowly defined. For example, the Government laid an impact assessment alongside the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, which can be found on our website. Civil Servants conduct any Impact Assessments related to legislation as business as usual. Our broader analysis continues.

Elections: Finance

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reasons the budgets of Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Officers are exempt from Freedom of Information requirements; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of removing that exemption to increase transparency in the funding of elections.

Chloe Smith: The Government agrees that Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers should be brought within the scope of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000.Whilst there are issues which require careful consideration, there are a number of potential benefits to ensuring the information held by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Returning Officers (ROs) is publicly available such as enhancing their accountability to the public and providing greater transparency as to the work underway to support electoral registration, which is vital in underpinning the democratic process.Many EROs and ROs choose to voluntarily disclose information when requested under the FOI Act and the Association of Electoral Administrators, the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and the Electoral Commission have previously stated that they are in favour of bringing EROs under the FOI ActHowever, the maximum recoverable amounts made available to Returning Officers for the conduct of national polls are published in advance of the poll in the corresponding Charges Order and are already publicly available.

Kidney Cancer

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have been diagnosed with Wilms' tumour of the kidney in the UK in each of the last 5 years.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 115.74 KB)

List of Ministerial Responsibilities

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans his Department has to publish an updated edition of the List of Ministerial Responsibilities.

Mr David Lidington: An updated List of Ministerial Responsibilities (LMR) will be published as soon as Ministers’ new portfolios are finalised. Copies of the updated LMR will also be placed in the library of the House.

Learning Disability: Hemsworth

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of adults with a learning disability in Hemsworth constituency were in paid work in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 190.94 KB)

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Sick Leave

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the cost was to his Department as a result of officials taking sick leave in the last year.

Greg Hands: The total cost of sickness pay to domestic staff within the Department for International Trade (DIT), from 1 January 2017 – 31 December 2017 is as follows: DIT domestic payroll: £241,333UKEF payroll: £97,829Total: £339,162 DIT and UKEF have reported data separately as two payroll providers are used.

Department for International Trade: Brexit

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 22 December 2017 to Question 119231, if he will place in the Library a copy of the analytical work his Department has undertaken examining the implications of the UK leaving the EU on all sectors of the UK economy.

Greg Hands: In November 2017, the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU provided the House of Commons Committee on Exiting the EU and the Lords EU Committee with information covering 58 sectors of the economy, which was published by the committee in December 2017. This analysis was produced by DExEU working with officials across Government, including the Department for International Trade (DIT).To clarify the answer to 119231, DIT is undertaking a programme of analytical work, looking at the implications of UK withdrawal from the EU, as they relate to the work of the department and the UK’s future trade policy, including the development of a new trade remedies regime, the continuity of existing EU FTA agreements with third countries and the choices for future FTAs the UK will look to enter into negotiations with. The government’s commitment to transparency and inclusivity with regards to the development of trade policy was set out in the Trade White Paper.

Trade Agreements

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to his oral contribution of 9 January 2018, on the Trade Bill, if he will list the countries which have indicated an interest in negotiating a new trade agreement with the UK after the UK leaves the EU where those countries have an existing agreement with the EU.

Greg Hands: All the countries which currently have an agreement with the EU are clear that these talks are purely technical exercises aimed at replicating as far as possible the effects of current trade agreements to ensure continuity.It will be possible at a future date to update any agreement with the agreement of both partners.

Trade Agreements

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will list those countries with which the EU has a trade agreement which he intends to form the basis for a new trade agreement with UK.

Greg Hands: I refer the hon Member for Sefton Central to the answer I gave on 20 November 2017 no. 112931.

Trade Agreements

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to his oral contribution of 9 January 2018, on the Trade Bill, what plans he has made for the potential renegotiation of any existing EU trade agreements into UK law after the UK has left the EU.

Greg Hands: Our priority is to secure continuity of the existing trade arrangements as we leave the EU, to provide certainty and stability for businesses, consumers and investors. After leaving the EU, we will be able to operate our own independent trade policy - negotiating new trade agreements with third countries.

Government Departments: Procurement

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the total level of earnings was of UK businesses from Government Procurement Agreements (GPA) in each of the last five years; and what the total level of earnings by foreign companies from such GPAs was in that period.

Greg Hands: The GPA mutually opens procurement markets, providing opportunities worth around £1.3 trillion globally each year. There is no consistent data on the total value of procurement contracts won by UK businesses or foreign companies across all GPA members. The Trade Bill Impact Assessment gives the value of direct contract awards to UK businesses within the EU which are covered by the GPA. This averaged £609 million per year (across 2014 and 2015). The GPA also provides protection for UK subsidiaries set up in GPA Parties by ensuring they cannot be discriminated against on the basis of foreign affiliation.

Trade Agreements

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State for International Trade on 9 January 2018, if he will publish a definition of what constitutes a significant change to existing trade agreements; and if he will list those countries that have indicated an interest in changing existing such agreements.

Greg Hands: Our priority is to secure continuity of the existing trade arrangements as we leave the EU, to provide certainty and stability for businesses, consumers and investors.All the countries which currently have an agreement with the EU are aware that this is a purely technical exercise aimed at replicating as far as possible the effects of current trade agreements to ensure continuity.After leaving the EU, the UK will be able to implement an independent trade policy. This would make it possible to revisit and improve existing agreements where appropriate.

Revenue and Customs: Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Office on the number of additional HM Revenue and Customs officials required in Northern Ireland to fulfil their new functions under the Trade Bill; and if she will make a statement.

Greg Hands: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Trade Agreements

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2018 to Question 120867, on Trade Agreements, for what reason that answer does not contain the list of organisations which submitted responses.

Greg Hands: Holding answer received on 17 January 2018



We have made public a summary of the responses we received which was published on 5 January. Views are not attributed to individual respondents or groups of respondents. We have summarised the responses and some organisations have made their own responses public. For those that haven’t we are treating their response as confidential.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: ICT

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport,  what steps her Department is taking to implement the guidance set out by the Government Commercial Function in its paper entitled Exiting Major IT Contracts: Guidance for Departments, published in November 2017, in respect of (a) using market engagement, (b) setting up disaggregation work, (c) risk assessment, (d) developing a programme plan through the transition, (e) identifying the skills and capabilities that will be needed in the future and (f) any other work related to that guidance.

Margot James: DCMS has a partnering arrangement for IT services with the Cabinet Office, where Cabinet Office provides IT infrastructure and services directly to DCMS. Through this arrangement Cabinet Office monitors and reviews contract and supplier performance, and is implementing Government Commericlal Function advice. DCMS has developed an IT strategy that considers our needs and requirements as a department, including the capabilities we need, and we will deliver this in conjunction with the Cabinet Office.

Radio Frequencies

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many fixed links are operating in the spectrum between 1350 MHz and 1400 MHz.

Margot James: Given current use in the 1350 – 1375 MHz band it is not considered feasible to allow sharing in this band for Programme Making and Special Events. The band 1375 – 1400 MHz is used by the Ministry of Defence.

Radio Frequencies

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the feasibility of Programme Making and Special Events services operating in the 1350-1400 MHz band.

Margot James: Given current use in the 1350 – 1375 MHz band it is not considered feasible to allow sharing in this band for Programme Making and Special Events. The band 1375 – 1400 MHz is used by the Ministry of Defence.

Broadband

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that providers respond to demands from consumers for access to superfast broadband.

Margot James: In addition to coverage by commercial broadband providers, the Government’s Superfast Broadband Programme has extended superfast broadband coverage with speeds of at least 24Mbps to approximately 4.75 million additional homes and businesses. A further 600,000 premises are contracted to gain coverage, and additional procurements undertaken by local authorities and the devolved administrations will extend coverage further beyond that. For all premises that do not have access to superfast broadband the government will ensure universal broadband of at least 10Mbps by 2020.

Musicians: Free Movement of People

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2017 to Question 118830, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the UK leaving the Single European Market on the ability of UK touring musicians to tour the EU.

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the answer of 20 December 2017 to Question 118830, on Musicians: Free Movement of People, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of leaving the Customs Union on the ability of UK touring musicians to tour the EU.

Margot James: We are working closely with the music industry to better understand the potential impacts for UK touring musicians after the UK leaves the European Union. The department is also working closely with the Home Office, HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Exiting the European Union to ensure that they are informed of our understanding of these issues. We want to continue to build on the success of the live music scene by helping artists do business across the world.

Broadband: Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to work with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to ensure full implementation of the Government's UK-wide broadband strategy in Northern Ireland.

Margot James: I will engage with the new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with whom I have an excellent relationship, to make sure the people and businesses of Northern Ireland benefit from the delivery of current UK Government broadband connectivity programmes, such as superfast and local full fibre roll out. I also encourage her department to engage with the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review, which my department is currently undertaking to understand companies’ incentives for investment in new digital infrastructure over the next decade and beyond. Current superfast broadband coverage in Northern Ireland is over 85% and will reach 87% by March upon completion of the current publicly funded broadband project that has been implemented by the Department for Economy Northern Ireland with support from Broadband Delivery UK. Delivery to date has had funding of £11.45m from DCMS. The government has allocated a further £150 million to support ultrafast broadband roll-out as part of the June 2017 funding support package for Northern Ireland. For any premises that do not have access to superfast broadband the government will give everyone in the UK a legal right to request a connection of at least 10Mbps by 2020.

Broadband: Greater London

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many postcodes in (a) Bethnal Green and Bow and (b) London are designated for for fibre broadband implementation that is yet to be introduced.

Margot James: We do not hold details of suppliers’ commercial plans to extend fibre broadband coverage within London. The Full Fibre Networks Programme (LFFN) has launched a £190m Challenge Fund into which Local Authorities have been invited to bid by 26th Jan 2018. We previously received an expression of interest from Tower Hamlets Council which referenced Bethnal Green and Bow. We therefore anticipate a bid from them. The Government is currently trialling a voucher scheme which makes full fibre connection vouchers available to SMEs in four regional areas. The Government will make full fibre connection vouchers available for companies across the country in 2018 to help businesses gain the benefits of fibre broadband connectivity.

British Museum: Pay

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reasons the approval of the British Museum’s 2017 pay remit for staff had been delayed and what assessment he has been made of the effect of that delay on staff morale.

Michael Ellis: The British Museum 2017 pay remit is subject to the usual discussions the government has with its Arm's Length Bodies regarding pay and I hope they can be concluded soon. Negotiations about terms and conditions are always unsettling for staff; the aim of government and the British Museum is to reach agreement as quickly as possible to minimise this uncertainty.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will widen the scope of the commissioned annual independent evaluation of the National Citizen Service (NCS) in order to make comparisons with other youth programmes with similar aims to NCS.

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the (a) effectiveness and (b) value for money of the National Citizen Service in comparison to other youth programmes with similar aims.

Tracey Crouch: DCMS commissions independent evaluations of the National Citizen Service to assess the impact and value for money of the NCS programme. The youth sector evidence base is not yet sufficiently developed to enable robust comparison between different programmes. DCMS is supporting youth organisations to develop the sector evidence base such as through funding for the Centre for Youth Impact and the £1m made available to evaluate the Youth Investment Fund.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will enable other youth programmes to make use of the control group of non-National Citizen Service (NCS) participants secured for the annual independent evaluation of the NCS programme.

Tracey Crouch: DCMS has not received any requests to use participant data held for evaluations of the NCS programme this data and has no plans to release the data at this time. Separately, we are working with the Centre for Youth Impact to consider what more could be done to strengthen the collective evidence base for youth provision.